St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, founded in 1962, is a pediatric treatment and research facility focused on children's catastrophic diseases. It is located in Memphis, Tennessee, and is a nonprofit medical corporation chartered as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization under IRS regulations.

History

St. Jude was founded by entertainer Danny Thomas, with help from Dr. Lemuel Diggs and close friend, Miami Florida auto magnate Anthony Abraham., on the premise that "no child should die in the dawn of life". This idea resulted from a promise that Danny Thomas had made to a saint years before the hospital was founded. Thomas was a comedian, who was struggling to get a break in his career and living paycheck to paycheck. When his first child was about to be born, he attended a mass in Detroit and put his last $7 in the offering bin after being incredibly moved by the service. He prayed to St. Jude Thaddeus for a means to provide for his family, and about a week later, he obtained a gig that paid 10 times what he had put in the offering bin. After that time, Thomas believed in the power of prayer. He promised St. Jude Thaddeus that if he made him successful, he would one day build him a shrine. Years later, Danny Thomas became an extremely successful comedian and built St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital as a shrine to St. Jude Thaddeus to honor his promise. In 1957, Thomas founded the American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities (ALSAC), which helped him realize his dream. ALSAC is also the fundraising organization of St. Jude. Since St. Jude opened its doors in 1962, ALSAC has had the responsibility of raising the necessary funds to keep the hospital open. Memphis was chosen at the suggestion of Roman Catholic Cardinal Samuel Stritch, a Tennessee native who had been a spiritual advisor to Thomas since he presided at Thomas's confirmation in Thomas's boyhood home of Toledo, Ohio.

Although it was named after Thomas's patron saint, St. Jude is not a Catholic hospital and not affiliated with any religious organization.

In late 2007, the Chili's Care Center opened on the St. Jude campus. Chili's restaurant chain has pledged to provide $50 million to fund the construction of the center. The seven-story Chili's Care Center will house 340,000 square feet (32,000 m2) and will add 24 labs and 16 beds to the campus. It will house the department of radiological services, The Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium, two floors of outpatient clinics, one floor of inpatient clinics and rooms, two floors of laboratory space, an office floor and an unfinished level for future expansion.

In June 2008, Sterling Jewelers Inc. and St. Jude officially opened the new Kay Kafe, featuring a spacious lounge area, a significantly larger dining area and a variety of new dining options. More than ever, the cafeteria is the focal point of the campus where families and staff can escape and relax away from the treatment areas. The grand opening ceremony featured Marlo Thomas, national outreach director for St. Jude; Tony Thomas, member of the ALSAC/St. Jude Boards of Directors and Governors; Terry Burman, chairman of Sterling; Mark Light, CEO and president of Sterling; John P. Moses, CEO of ALSAC, the fundraising organization for St. Jude; Dr. William E. Evans, CEO of St. Jude; Joyce Aboussie, chair of the ALSAC Board of Directors, and Robert Breit, chair of the St. Jude Board of Governors.

Mission

The mission statement given by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is “to advance cures, and means of prevention, for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment. Consistent with the vision of our founder Danny Thomas, no child is denied treatment based on race, religion or a family's ability to pay.” The staff plans to achieve this by increasing and sharing knowledge about their research, advancements, and treatment as well as providing free treatment to any child who has a referral to St. Jude based on the eligibility of partaking in a current treatment study at St. Jude.

The Hospital



Discoveries at St. Jude have completely changed how doctors treat children with cancer and other catastrophic illnesses. Since St. Jude was established, the survival rate for acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common type of childhood cancer, has increased from 4 percent in 1962 to 94 percent today. During this time, the overall survival rate for childhood cancers has risen from 20 percent to 80 percent. St. Jude has treated children from across the United States and from more than 70 countries. Doctors across the world consult with St. Jude on their toughest cases. Also, St. Jude has an International Outreach Program to improve the survival rates of children with catastrophic illnesses worldwide through the transfer of knowledge, technology and organizational skills.

Directors/CEOs

William E. Evans, Pharm.D. (2004–present)
Arthur W. Nienhuis, M.D. (1993–2004)
Joseph Simone, M.D. (1983–1992)
Alvin Mauer, M.D. (1973–1983)
Donald Pinkel, M.D. (1962–1973)

Awards and achievements

St. Jude and over 46 of its staff members have been the recipients of numerous exemplary awards and achievements. For example, in 2010 St. Jude Children's Research Hospital was named the number one children's cancer hospital in U.S by U.S. News & World Report. It has also been named one of the top 10 companies to work for in academia by The Scientist for 7 successive years. Perhaps most notably, in 1996, Peter C. Doherty, Ph.D., of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, was co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for work related to how the immune system kills virus-infected cells.

Affiliated Hospitals

St. Jude is associated with several affiliated hospitals around the nation to further its efforts beyond its own physical walls. The hospital uses its Domestic Affiliates Program to form this partnership with the other pediatric programs. This program is a network of hematology clinics, hospitals, and universities that are united under the mission of St. Jude.

These sites are used as a means of referring eligible patients to St. Jude as well as a location to administer some care. Through the Domestic Affiliates Program staff at St. Jude work together and collaborate with those at the other institutions. Affiliated sites are expected to comply with standards set by St. Jude and are audited to ensure proper and quality care.

Currently the Domestic Affiliate Clinic sites include:

St. John's Children's Hospital in Springfield, Missouri

Johnson City Medical Center in Johnson City, Tennessee

St. Jude Midwest Affiliate in Peoria, Illinois

Louisiana State University, Department of Pediatrics, in Shreveport, Louisiana

Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Huntsville Hospital for Women & Children, in Huntsville, Alabama

St. Jude also works closely with Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center, also located in downtown Memphis. St. Jude patients needing certain procedures, such as brain surgery, may undergo procedures at LeBonheur Hospital. Both St. Jude and Le Bonheur are teaching hospitals affiliated with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. University of Tennessee physicians training in pediatrics, surgery, radiology, and other specialties undergo service rotations at St. Jude Hospital.

The Children's Cancer Center of Lebanon was established in Beirut on April 12, 2002. The center is an affiliate of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and works in association with the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC).

Funding

All medically eligible patients who are accepted for treatment at St. Jude are treated without regard to the family's ability to pay. St. Jude is one of a few pediatric research organizations in the United States where families never pay for treatments that are not covered by insurance, and families without insurance are never asked to pay. In addition to providing medical services to eligible patients, St. Jude also assists families with transportation, lodging, and meals. Three separate specially-designed patient housing facilities—Grizzly House for short-term (up to one week), Ronald McDonald House for medium-term (one week to 3 months), and Target House for long-term (3 months or more)—provide housing for patients and up to three family members, with no cost to the patient. These policies, along with research expenses and other costs, cause the hospital to incur more than $1.8 million in operating costs each day.

Philanthropic Aid

From 2000 to 2005, 83.7% of every dollar received by St. Jude went to the current or future needs of St. Jude. In 2002 to 2004, 47% of program expenses went to patient care and 41% to research. As of 2012, 81 cents of every dollar donated to St. Jude goes directly to its research and treatment.

To cover operating costs, ALSAC conducts many fund-raising events and activities. The FedEx St. Jude Classic, a PGA Tour event, is one of the most visible fund-raising events for the hospital. Other fund-raising programs include the St. Jude Math-A-Thon, Up 'til Dawn, direct mailings, radiothons and television marketing.

St. Jude also has a merchandise catalog called the Hope Catalog. The catalog contains everything from shirts to office items, and from patient art to "Give Thanks" wristbands.

One of the hospital's most recent and successful fund-raising efforts has been the Dream Home Giveaway. The giveaway allows contest entrants to reserve tickets for $100 each to qualify to win homes valued up to $720,000. The Dream Home Giveaway, one of the largest national fund-raising programs, is conducted in cities across the United States.

In November 2004, St. Jude launched its inaugural Thanks and Giving campaign which encourages consumers to help raise funds at participating retailers by adding a donation at checkout or by purchasing specialty items to benefit St. Jude. The campaign is supported by network television spots, advertisements in major publications, interactive marketing on Yahoo! and a movie trailer that runs on 20,000 screens nationwide. Corporations such as Target, Domino's Pizza, the Williams-Sonoma family of brands, CVS/pharmacy, Kmart, Kay Jewelers, New York & Company 7-Eleven, Inc., American Airlines, American Kiosk Management, AutoZone, Brooks Brothers, Busch Gardens, Casual Male XL, Catherines, Diane von Furstenberg, Dollar General, Easy Spirit, General Nutrition Centers, Gymboree, HSN, J. P. Morgan Chase, Marshall's, The Melting Pot, Memphis Grizzlies (NBA), Nine West, Rochester, Sag Harbor, Saks Fifth Avenue, SeaWorld, St. Louis Rams (NFL), West Elm, Westfield Shoppingtowns, and Yahoo! give customers a host of opportunities to support St. Jude. The ultimate goal is to increase awareness with the hope that people will come to identify Thanksgiving with St. Jude, said Joyce Aboussie, vice chairwoman of the nonprofit’s board.

At various college campuses, some student organizations, fraternities and sororities raise funds in a program called Up 'til Dawn.

St. Jude is an International Philanthropic Project of Epsilon Sigma Alpha International, a co-ed service sorority. As of October 2009, ESA has raised more than $135 million for St. Jude.

In 1999, the Delta Delta Delta collegiate sorority formed a philanthropic partnership with St. Jude. Tri Delta supports St. Jude nationally and supports cancer charities at a local level. At the hospital in Memphis, the sorority donated the Teen Room for teenage patients to relax and spend time with each other. In July 2010, Tri Delta completed its "10 by 10" goal, raising over $10 million in less than four years, six years short of the original goal. Those funds were used to sponsor the Tri Delta Patient Care Floor in the Chili’s Care Center. Upon completion of the "10 by 10" campaign, the sorority announced a new fundraising goal of $15 million in 5 years to name the Specialty Clinic located in the Patient Care Center. Two short years after setting this goal, however, the ladies of Delta Delta Delta have raised over $8.5 million and are on their way to completing their fundraising goal much earlier than expected once again.

In July 2005, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. (ΚΑΨ) announced St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital as its national philanthropic partner. Since that time, members across the country have joined in the fight against pediatric cancer, sickle cell disease, and other catastrophic illnesses. Kappa Alpha Psi has answered the call to service by raising more than $400,000—representing the largest contribution that Kappa Alpha Psi has donated to any charity. Members of Kappa Alpha Psi have committed to raise $500,000 in support of the hospital’s sickle cell program. St. Jude has one of the largest pediatric sickle cell research and treatment programs in the world. St. Jude is the first known hospital in the world to cure sickle cell disease through bone marrow transplantation. Today, bone marrow transplantation still offers the only cure for sickle cell disease. Members of Kappa Alpha Psi reach out to churches in their local communities to host a Sunday of Hope each January in support of St. Jude. January was selected because this is the month of Kappa’s founding. During the Sunday of Hope, churches will take up a special offering in honor of the patients and families of St. Jude. At the 2008 ALSAC/St. Jude Board and Awards Dinner, Kappa Alpha Psi received the Volunteer Group of the Year Award for their efforts in the inaugural year of the Sunday of Hope program which secured more than 130 churches to participate and raised more than $280,000.

Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE) Fraternity adopted St. Jude as its philanthropy of emphasis in 2008.

Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority, Inc. serves thousands of hours each year to a variety of philanthropic causes and needs. In the effort to create a more united and bigger impact nationally, Lambda Theta Alpha selected a national philanthropy. In January 2010, LTA became an official collegiate partner to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, becoming the first individual Latino Greek organization to commit fully to the hospital's efforts. With this partnership, LTA provides our resources of community service and activism and more importantly, another direct link to the Hispanic community for St. Jude. LTA has pledged to raise awareness about childhood cancer and St. Jude in the Latin community, as well as fundraise for the hospital through a variety of events and programs.

Past events have included: sporting tournaments, charity galas, informational meetings, and much more.

McDonald's Monopoly

In 1995, St. Jude received an anonymous letter postmarked in Dallas, Texas, containing a $1 million winning McDonald's Monopoly game piece. McDonald's officials came to the hospital, accompanied by a representative from the accounting firm Arthur Andersen, who examined the card under a jeweler's eyepiece, handled it with plastic gloves, and verified it as a winner. Although game rules prohibited the transfer of prizes, McDonald's waived the rule and has made the annual $50,000 annuity payments, even after learning that the piece was sent by an individual involved in an embezzlement scheme intended to defraud McDonald's.

Link:

St.Jude Children's Research Hospital Website

Source: Internet