|
2002: The year
in review
The year in review | The year in research
| The year in advocacy
  o
you remember when the New England Patriots were SuperBowl champions?
If the milestones of 2002 seem long ago and just yesterday all at
once, you're not alone. That's the trick of time flying by.
Some things stayed the same in 2002: US News and World Report
named Children's the top
pediatric hospital in the country, and separate surveys confirmed
that Children's is tops both with consumers
and employees.
But even as the hospital maintained its prestige, 2002 saw Children's
make advances in each of its mission areas. Early in the year, the
Pediatric Advanced Care Team opened a special room for compassionate,
end-of-life
care. Children's surgeons began using a high-tech robotic
surgery unit to improve outcomes. Wonderful renovations made
the Bone
Marrow Transplant Unit a more pleasant place for patients and
families. The community benefited from Children's asthma education
and injury prevention campaigns. And
thanks in no small part to the lobbying of Children's officials,
pediatric teaching hospitals won a victory in 2002 when Congress
funded
pediatric Graduate Medical Education for the year.
Children's News debuted a new online version, and the PeopleSoft
conversion touched staff and employees across the hospital. In March,
Kohl's Department Stores set up shop in town and promptly built
a generous relationship
with Children's. Meanwhile, hospital leaders aggressively faced
the threats raised by terrorism by making and testing extensive
plans
for dealing with biological and other mass casualty incidents (more).
By September, the hospital was ready to celebrate the groundbreaking
of the clinical building expansion project, and say thank-you to
staff and employees. In honor of the occasion, Children's threw
a giant Brigham's Ice Cream Big Dig party, complete with entertainment
and free Children's Hospital Boston baseball caps.
 Patients
are already benefitting from many of the improvements made in 2002.
Kids with sports injuries in their arms and legs can be scanned
with the comfortable new extremities
MRI. Thanks to the Center for the Critically Ill Child and the
Children's Hospital League, children in need of critical care transport
can now ride in a new, state-of the-art ambulance.
Even blood donors are benefitting from advances in technology, as
a new system for can collect blood gathers more
red blood cells at each donor visit.
This month, Children's zips into 2003 with a robot named Gizmo
who runs medications and records through the halls, the world.
|
