U.S. Flag and Missouri State Flag Kit Bond, Sixth Generation Missourian
 

Bond Praises Passage of Children’s Hospital Legislation Bill Critical to KC’s Children’s Mercy and St. Louis’ Children’s Hospitals

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

ST. LOUIS, MO - U.S. Senator Kit Bond today announced that legislation to provide our nation’s children’s hospitals with critical federal support to train pediatricians and pediatric specialists passed the Senate last night. This legislation is expected to pass the House of Representatives this week and will then be sent to the President to be signed into law.

“Passage of this vital legislation is great news and will allow us to continue the critical advances that have been made in children’s health care,” said Senator Bond. “Children’s Hospitals provide the highest quality medical care to children from all parts of the country. These fine institutions are essential to the health and health care of children today and tomorrow.”

“This program has enabled our hospital to train approximately 125 interns and residents annually, which will help to ensure children will have a strong pediatric health care workforce today and into the future. Senator Bond has been the original champion in Congress on this issue and we are extremely appreciative and proud of his tireless efforts and leadership on behalf of children,” said Dr. Randall O’Donnell, President and CEO, Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics.

“We thank Senator Bond for his fervent, ongoing commitment to pediatric medicine," says Lee Fetter, hospital president. "Passage of the Children's Hospital Graduate Medical Education Payment Program reauthorization enables us to continue to train the next generation of pediatricians and pediatric specialists. As a teaching hospital, this training is a critical element in our ability to serve all children regardless of their families' ability to pay."

“The Children’s Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act will extend the authority of the Children's Hospitals Graduate Medical Education Program (CHGME) for an additional five years. Bond, who created the original CHGME program, pointed out that this program provides our nation's independent children's hospitals with the same federal support for their teaching missions provided to other teaching hospitals through Medicare,” said Dr. Randall O’Donnell, President and CEO, Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics

The CHGME program helps children's hospitals to sustain their teaching programs and to secure the quality of these residency programs at the national level. Bond stressed that protecting the number and breadth of residency positions is critical to ensuring that our nation will have the pediatric workforce needed for our children's future. Currently, less than one percent of all hospitals -- the independent children’s hospitals -- train almost one-third of all pediatricians, almost half of all pediatric specialists, and the majority of future pediatric researchers.

The Children’s Hospitals GME Support Reauthorization Act will also help Children’s Hospitals continue to fulfill their other valuable missions. Independent children’s hospitals are an important part of the safety net for low income children, providing 40 percent of all hospital care for children covered by Medicaid and extensive ambulatory care services. They provide half or more of the hospital care for children with many serious illnesses, from cancer to heart disease, and include many of our leading pediatric research centers.

In 1999 Bond, along with former Senator Robert Kerrey (D-NE), first created the CHGME program to ease the federal funding inequity for children's hospitals. Because they care for children, not the elderly, children's hospitals were effectively left out of the one major source of GME support – Medicare. Prior to the Bond - Kerrey bill, the Children's Hospitals Education and Research Act, children's hospitals were struggling to support their teaching programs.

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