NATIONWIDE CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL FOUNDATION SPRING 2022
LETTER FROM THE FOUNDATION PRESIDENT Supporters like you enable Nationwide Children’s Hospital to launch ambitious plans for creating a brighter tomorrow. You make it possible for us to tackle challenging subjects, such as pediatric mental health, disparities in healthcare, and more. In this brief document, you will learn about our work in pediatric behavioral health. Behavioral health is one of the pillars of the hospital’s recently released strategic plan, the most ambitious in our 130-year history. With your help, we will seek to better understand the nature of mental health in children, and develop better diagnostics and preventative strategies.
You will meet an inspiring young patient named Winnie, learn how one young patient’s care inspired them to choose a medical career path, and hear about donors and supporters that make our institution great. The space limitations of a printed newsletter mean we have to pick just one or two donor stories. But each of these stories represent all of you. In truth, every gift matters. Your generosity helps us launch so many innovative programs and treat children like Winnie. You make it possible for us to do what we do. And when you help kids here, you help kids everywhere. Thank you,
Steve Testa President, Nationwide Children’s Hospital Foundation
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MEET WINNIE
Winnie came into this world kicking and screaming on April 17, 2015. She passed all newborn screening tests, and her family was sent home with a healthy baby girl. Around nine months old, Winnie began missing milestones – she never pulled to stand and couldn’t bear weight on her legs. After months of genetic testing, Winnie was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) Type II. Her parents knew they needed to find the best medical home for her and kept coming back to Nationwide SMA clinic while researching. They were able to have Winnie start in the clinic on January 4, 2017, just nine days after the FDA approved the first ever treatment for SMA. “Immediately the team at Nationwide Children’s welcomed us with open arms and always treats Winnie with such dignity and grace,” says Ann, Winnie’s mother. “They helped us battle for the lifesaving medicine. On March 15, 2017 Winnie was one of the first patients dosed at Nationwide Children’s.” Winnie will receive this medicine every four months for the rest of her life (via an injection in her spine) and her family drives to Columbus twice a year for five-hour clinic visits. “We always leave so grateful to have the best medical care available for our girl and are forever thankful to Nationwide,” says Ann. “Winnie has a special bond with her nurses Kim and Jeanne from the neuromuscular department, they are angels in our eyes.” Winnie is incredibly smart, loves to sing, play with her five-year-old brother, Charlie, and leaves people with a smile wherever she goes. Winnie’s disease is just a small part of who she is. She’s a daughter, sister, and a hero to all that know her.
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DONOR FOCUS
“Every day, the reason I work an extra hour is because I want to try and get in a position where I can really help kids” Servant leaders are revolutionary—they take the traditional power structure and turn it completely upside down. This model places other people—employees, colleagues, community, —at the forefront. In a business context, leadership is charged with serving employees and that’s just the way president and CEO of Sophisticated Systems Inc., Dwight E. Smith prefers it. “I believe in servant leadership,” says Smith. “And I think that when things go poorly, the leader should be front and center. When things go really well, the leader should be invisible.” Smith holds a serve-first mindset, demonstrated by his nine-year tenure on the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Board of Trustees. He is focused on empowering and uplifting not only those who work for him, but also those in his community. He serves instead of commands, shows humility, and always looks for ways to change the world around him for the better. Smith strives to achieve change through “loving and caring for the world’s children, nurturing their minds and self-esteems so that they might shape the world into a better place.” Smith’s character extends far beyond the day-to-day operations at Sophisticated. Adopting the mentality of a servant leader from his mother, Smith and his three siblings were taught the spiritual importance of giving back to those in need. He also credits his hometown of Springfield, OH with shaping him into the businessman and philanthropist he is today. Neighbors genuinely knew each other, cared for each other, and always found time for each other.
Loving and caring for one’s neighbor is akin to caring for one’s community. Smith’s community extends far beyond Springfield, yet he remains connected to and involved with the city and local organizations like Junior Achievement, the Springfield Foundation, and the Springfield City Youth Mission. Smith is also very active in the Columbus community. He serves as a board member of several organizations in addition to his efforts with Nationwide Children’s. His first gift to the hospital was in 2000 and he joined the board in 2013. In 2015, he established the nonprofit, My Special Word, with the hopes of teaching children the value of words. The organization encourages every child to embody a spirt of positivity and kindness in everyday life. Smith donated 365 On Our Sleeves® Kindness Kits to schools in Springfield, Columbus, and Cincinnati. Over 10,000 kids received access to the Kindness Kit curriculum containing daily challenges that transform students into superheroes. This sparks a chain reaction of covert kindness that boosts mental wellness. Kindness Kits align with the philosophy Smith’s organization was founded upon: Our words matter; they dramatically affect the mental well-being of ourselves and others. Dwight E. Smith embodies the spirit of kindness in all personal and professional endeavors, by concerning himself with the needs of community and cultivating a better society from the boardroom outward. “Touching the lives of others has made life so enjoyable, so overwhelming. It’s a humbling experience.”
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The timing could have been better. But, it was also the perfect time. In March 2020, the Big Lots Behavioral Health Pavilion at Nationwide Children’s Hospital opened. Designed to help address behavioral health challenges within the communities we serve, we had no idea just how timely the services offered and research done within those four walls would be. Less than one week after we opened our doors, the first closings related to the COVID-19 pandemic began. We all remember the uncertainty and fear that were those first few months. Few of us, however, were as in-tune with how our children experienced it as the Behavioral Health staff. Prior to the start of the pandemic, Nationwide Children’s had done 36 telehealth appointments across all departments; in the first month of COVID-related restrictions, we had done nearly 2,400, with requests for mental health resources and care making up the majority of the visits. By the end of the year, telehealth appointments exploded, with hospital staff seeing more than 316,568 patients electronically. Since March of 2020, we’ve seen some improvements. We’ve streamlined processes and guides to care. We’re all more comfortable using technology like Zoom, Teams, WebEx, and other platforms. We accidentally leave cat filters on our video-selves far less often. What hasn’t changed, though, is the need for children’s mental health care. In 2021 Behavioral Health accounted for 40% of telehealth visits across all service lines. Our Behavioral Health staff saw over 7,500 patients on an outpatient basis in 2021. That’s a nearly 60% increase over 2020. Recurrent depressive disorders were among the top ten reasons we admitted a patient last year. These sobering statistics show the scope of the problem we face, and also show the trust that’s been put in us and our ability to care and to lead. Patients and their families trust that when they come through our doors, the care they receive will be world-
class. Our clinicians and staff who see patients every day are backed up by knowledgeable researchers who quickly put new discoveries to work to support our patients. Our researchers, like Dr. Jeff Bridges, Dr. Arielle Sheftall, and others, work to better understand teen and youth suicide, the signs to watch for, and what parents, schools, and communities can do to support our children. Behavioral Health researchers also work on a variety of other topics, like how virtual reality gaming can be used to help children who have suffered a traumatic brain injury, or how parents at high risk for cardiovascular disease can communicate that potential future risk to their children. We have lofty goals for ourselves, something we know you expect from us. To help address the behavioral health needs of children around the world, we will identify the genetic and environmental basis of childhood mental illness to improve diagnoses and direct future treatments. To do that, we have to have big plans on how we get there. We’ve developed four strategies to accomplish this goal. Over the course of our new strategic plan, we will: • Define the nation-leading model for integrated systems of care • Deepen our excellence in patient experience and outcomes • Establish leading research programs • Expand provider capacity, talent pipeline, and educational resources allowing us to serve more people To provide the care our patients and families have come to expect from Nationwide Children’s Hospital, we must ensure the patient gets the right care at the right time, keeping them as healthy as possible. With this intentional focus on behavioral health, we know that we will provide better outcomes for children not just in central Ohio, but around the world.
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THE IMPACT IS FELT Panda Express restaurants in central Ohio raise funds for Nationwide Children’s all year long through their Panda Cares program and coin canisters at checkout. Through the Panda Cares program, Panda Express is committed to addressing a child’s entire well-being through their philosophy anchored in four pillars of health: Mental, Emotional, Physical, and Spiritual. Throughout the year Speedway stores throughout central Ohio conduct special events and promotions as well as place coin donation boxes at their registers. In 2021 Speedway quadrupled their support of the children and families cared for at Nationwide Children’s to $638,873. Our gratitude to their hard-working associates and loyal customers for making this possible. Walmart and Sam’s Club support Nationwide Children’s Hospital through their miracle balloon icon campaign during the month of June. Each location asks all their customers to make a donation to help provide the highest quality of care. While you are traveling and shopping this spring, consider visiting these Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals’ partners to support Nationwide Children’s Hospital through their campaigns:
April
May
June
SPRING CORPORATE PARTNERSHIPS Corporate partners play a major role in helping us break stigmas, raise awareness, and help children and families get the support they need in challenging times. JOANN, Big Lots, and many other much-appreciated partners run campaigns during May.
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WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
Intraosseous Infusion (IO) training proved to be that something new. IO stimulates the placement of an IV in the marrow of a bone to provide fluids and medication when other access is not possible. Highly realistic, yet expensive artificial practice bones are used. Luke and other team members were able to offset the high cost by 3-D printing practice bones.
After he was in a car accident at age 7, Luke Vohsing spent most of his youth receiving care at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. His medical journey left him inspired by the nurses and doctors who cared for him over the years after he underwent surgery to remove his spleen and most of his small intestine. After high school, Luke attended nursing school and became a Patient Care Assistant on Nationwide Children’s rehab unit, where he later worked as an RN. Years later, Luke was hired as coordinator of the Columbus Blue Jackets Foundation Family Resource Center, where he taught families how to properly use medical devices and equipment like his own. Luke is now Simulation Coordinator at Nationwide Children’s Simulation Center, where no two days are the same. His new role allows him to teach, train, and work with medical technology to instruct staff in realistic training simulations. Life at the Simulation Center is always different, and the excitement keeps him on his toes. The center replicates Nationwide Children’s medical rooms where Luke works with equipment he calls “high-tech toys that save lives.” As technology enhances, so too does the educational process. At the beginning of his new role, Luke’s team members mentored and guided him through classes specific to critical care, a service line he hadn’t had much experience in. “At the time, it was beneficial to get out of my comfort zone, learn something new and practice something I just hadn’t done in a while…I’ve become a more proficient nurse,” says Luke.
Luke is passionate about teaching multiple service lines from behavioral health to critical care. “Code Blue” education is one of Luke’s favorite topics to teach. Participants in Luke’s class learn in authentic ways when prompted to respond as they would in a real “Code Blue” severe medical emergency. Staff are hands on and fully engaged. They practice chest compressions, bagging techniques, and tracheostomy dislodgement on training mannequins that replicate human behavior. Simulation Outreach Education staff collaborate with Big Lots Behavioral Health Pavilion educators to increase frequency of “Code Blue” classes related to mental health crisis. It’s been an enjoyable knowledge exchange for Luke, helping him brush up on skills learned early in his nursing career. In the future, Luke would like to eventually gain a leadership position in health education. “When I was a kid, I always knew I wanted to go into the healthcare field. Now, I get to teach nurses and doctors taking care of children in similar conditions I was once in,” Luke says. “The most rewarding part is knowing my educating is impacting the care that’s being delivered to patients.”
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NONPROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID COLUMBUS, OH PERMIT NO. 777
Nationwide Children’s Hospital Foundation 525 E. Mound Street Columbus, Ohio 43215
THE POWER OF A PLAN Planning your legacy now can help secure the future for your loved ones and the causes important to you. A bequest gift made through your will or trust is one of the most popular ways that you can support the mission of Nationwide Children’s Hospital for future generations. Depending on your personal situation there are numerous ways to structure a legacy gift. To help make the first steps easier, you can download or request an easy-to-use estate planning guide by scanning the QR code below with your phone or contact our Planned Giving team directly with the information below.
We can help you create the best strategy. To speak with our Planned Giving team directly, please contact Lori Caldwell Aiello, JD at 614-355-5417 or by email at Lori.Aiello@NationwideChildrens.org.
Questions or Comments? Please contact: Ann P. Holzapfel, Nationwide Children's Hospital Foundation, 525 E. Mound Street Columbus, Ohio 43215 Ann.Holzapfel@NationwideChildrens.org | (614) 355-5428