Children's Hospital Colorado 2007 Annual Report

Download the 2007 Annual Report  (.pdf)

An Extraordinary Year

Dear Friends,

By any standard, 2007 was an extraordinary year in the long and storied history of Children's Hospital Colorado.

During 2008 we celebrate our centennial year with 100 years of outstanding service to children and their families. We launched our second 100 years by opening the doors on the jewel in the crown of pediatric healthcare excellence — our new 1.5 million square feet facility. The new Children’s Hospital, anchor to our growing Network of Care locations, is the proud reflection of both a 100-year tradition of pediatric excellence and the leading-edge future of pediatric healthcare.

To put it simply, no other pediatric healthcare organization in the western region is positioned to draw upon the strength of a 100-year trajectory of learning, improving, and advancing as we prepare continually to meet the needs of children today, tomorrow and for generations to come.

In keeping with our history, this extraordinary year, as has been the case for every year in Children's Hospital Colorado century of service, will be followed by many more.

In 2007, Children's Hospital Colorado continued its longstanding tradition of excellence. In the spring, we became the only freestanding pediatric hospital in the country to achieve fully integrated Electronic Medical Record capability. This landmark achievement holds much promise in standardizing the highest levels of care while facilitating caregiver-to-caregiver communications and generating increased efficiencies.

On the nursing front, our Magnet Status designation for nursing excellence, first awarded to Children's Hospital Colorado in 2006, was renewed in 2007. This recognition played a major role in Children’s moving into the top five pediatric hospitals in the country in 2007 as ranked by U.S. News and World Report. Our number four ranking positions Children's Hospital Colorado first among all pediatric hospitals in the western United States .

To strengthen our working affiliation with the University of Colorado Denver, we renewed our affiliation agreement in 2007 to take full advantage of Children's Hospital Colorado’s new and unique location that positions both organizations in close proximity to some of the finest teaching, research and care delivery facilities in the world.

In August we maintained our commitment to Denver by opening the doors of Children's Hospital Colorado at Saint Joseph Hospital. This program provides 24-hours-a-day access to pediatric emergency services and inpatient beds. Designed specifically with the needs of Denver in mind, it provides the same outstanding levels of care that are the signature standards of all of Children's Hospital Colorado Network of Care locations.

For Children's Hospital Colorado, all of the achievements, the forward march of technology and research, and the dramatic expansion of our network of services spearheaded by our beautiful new facility share a common goal: the care of children and their families.

You’ll meet a few of these children in the pages of this report. They and the hundreds of thousands of children we have treated during our nearly 100 years of service are the motivating force behind our continuous drive for excellence.

For 100 years, Children's Hospital Colorado has depended on the generous support of the communities it serves. That tradition of community involvement has formed and strengthened the bond uniting generations of communities and the work on behalf of children that goes on throughout Children's Hospital Colorado system.

During the last several years, that community involvement reached new and dramatic heights; nearly 130,000 donors made 467,000 gifts, thereby playing a major role in the completion of The new Children’s Hospital.

On behalf of all the staff and volunteers dedicated to the delivery of outstanding pediatric care, we extend out heartfelt appreciation to our communities and to the generations of communities that preceded them for your dedication to the cause of children’s health and well being.

With warm regards,

Donald L. Kortz
Chair, Board of Directors
Children's Hospital Colorado

James E. Shmerling, DHA , FACHE
President and CEO
Children's Hospital Colorado