Governor Beebe's Weekly Column and Radio Address: Expanding Arkansas Children's Hospital

Statement

Governor Beebe's weekly column and radio address: Expanding Arkansas Children's Hospital

One of the most remarkable characteristics of American culture is that each generation has been able to pass on a better standard of living to their children. The passion with which today's issues are being discussed by Americans all over this country is infused with the knowledge that our decisions today will affect the lives of our children tomorrow. As mothers and fathers, as uncles and aunts, as Americans and as Arkansans, we have a solemn duty to care for our children, to provide them with all that they need to achieve happy, healthy lives.

I'm sure that all Arkansans were as disturbed as I was to note that a recent survey showed Arkansas ranked as one of the bottom states in the nation when it comes to child health care. One of my highest priorities is for Arkansas to establish itself as a leader in children's health and well-being, as it has with programs like ARKids First, and with institutions like the internationally renowned Arkansas Children's Hospital. This trusted institution, one of the largest pediatric hospitals in the country, houses the state's only Burn Center, treating both severely injured children and adults. It has also recently joined in partnership with the Arkansas Department of Health to expand newborn screenings, which will improve, and in many cases save the lives of, our most vulnerable citizens.

ACH is an important voice in health research and policy through efforts like its recently released report, Natural Wonders: The State of Children's Health in Arkansas. This annual report provides a comprehensive analysis of children's health in Arkansas and offers wide-ranging strategies for improving its quality. The staff and all those affiliated with ACH seek not only to heal our sickest children and infants, but through efforts like this, to benefit the health care of all our children.

Today, I am proud to congratulate Children's Hospital on the groundbreaking of its new five-story South Wing. The largest project in the hospital's nearly 100-year history, the wing will cost more than $100 million and will add dozens of new beds, exam rooms, and diagnostic spaces, providing an additional 100,000 square feet of patient space and changing lives for the better.

One of the biggest issues this new wing will help to address is caring for victims of trauma. Traumatic injury, which requires immediate and complex treatment to save the patient's life, is a leading cause of death in our nation. In Arkansas, sadly, trauma kills more children than all other causes combined. In fact, Arkansas's child-trauma death rate is nearly twice that of the national average. Thanks to Children's Hospital, we are making strides in the critical area. The completion of the South Wing's Emergency Department will double the hospital's current trauma capacity, allowing the dedicated staff of ACH to meet the needs of child victims of trauma. Additionally, it will add space for an expanded neurosciences clinic and an ear, nose, and throat clinic, and for the rehabilitation of children with hearing and speech disabilities. The facility also will contribute to the growth of the local economy, providing 100 new jobs for health-care professionals when the South Wing opens in 2011.

Arkansas Children's Hospital has long been a point of pride for the State, earning accolades around the world for its superb work. It is consistently ranked by US News & World Report as one of the best children's hospitals in America, and I am grateful. But as a State, we must work to make the same quality of care available and accessible to every child in Arkansas. I know we can do better, as Children's Hospital has proven to generations of families.

For almost a century, Arkansas Children's Hospital has been caring for our children, saving lives of those most vulnerable, earning recognition for the State, performing cutting-edge research, and providing a boon to our economy. I urge you to join me in offering our admiration and our gratitude to all its doctors, nurses, administrators, and service personnel, as they continue their noble work.

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