A Message from Tim Robinson

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

I have been fortunate to spend the last 25 years of my career at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, alongside thousands of talented staff working to improve the health of children in our region and throughout the world.

This is the first time, however, that I have the honor of introducing our annual report as this institution’s chief executive officer. As you will see, Nationwide Children’s commitment to the patients and families we serve is stronger than ever, and we continue to shape the future of pediatric medicine through our innovative approach to population health, clinical care and discovery.

This year, a landmark gene therapy, based on decades of research at our hospital, was given federal approval and is already changing children’s lives around the country. We welcomed one of the nation’s most preeminent pediatric surgeons, an early pioneer in fetal surgery, as our surgeon-in-chief. Our nursing staff, the front line of our family-centered care, has become the first in our state to earn the prestigious Magnet Recognition from the American Nurses Credentialing Center four times.

In the midst of these and other signature accomplishments, Nationwide Children’s has continued our transformational investments in four areas that will accelerate our journey to best outcomes for children:

• Population Health. Our pediatric accountable care organization, Partners For Kids, has modeled ways that pharmacists can improve care for the 330,000 children in our coverage region and help lower overall spending on medications.
• Behavioral Health. Our Center for Suicide Prevention and Research has shown that suicide screening in an Emergency Department is important for children as young as 10, and how an increased suicide rate was associated with a popular Netflix show.
• Genomics. The Steve and Cindy Rasmussen Institute for Genomic Medicine at Nationwide Children’s has created a new method to identify “gene fusion events” that can cause pediatric cancer.
• Quality, Safety and Service. A quality improvement project shared by a number of clinicians and researchers has led to a nearly 29% reduction in asthma-related emergency department utilization in our county.

The achievements you’ll read about in this report are possible because of the Nationwide Children’s team, and their mission to give children their best chance at healthy, happy lives. I am incredibly proud to have the opportunity to further empower this team as CEO, and to present its extraordinary work from the last year.

Best,

TIM ROBINSON
Chief Executive Officer
Nationwide Children’s Hospital