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May 18, 2010

I am writing to thank you for your generous support of George Mark Children’s House and to inform you of some recent changes at the House.   This is a time of great possibilities for our work in pediatric palliative care, and with your continued support of our work, we will greatly increase our potential for success.

On April 5, 2010, I assumed the role of CEO at George Mark Children’s House.   Having served on the board of the organization, my fellow directors asked me to lead the institution through this transformative phase in its history.  As a healthcare executive with more than 20 years experience in managing health care institutions, and a consultant with more than 15 years providing administrative and operational counsel to a wide variety of private and public health care entities in California, I am pleased to be taking the reins at this fabulous organization.

The health care industry in this nation is undergoing dramatic changes, and with these changes, we at George Mark need to increase our ability to become stronger and better able to carry out our work amidst a rapidly evolving healthcare environment.

Our Challenges

As you know, we have been struggling these past 18 months.  Our business model necessitated that 85% of our budget of approximately $5 million per year be raised through contributed dollars.  We became increasingly aware of the fact that this model was not sustainable long term and that we needed to devise a better option.  Given our financial model’s difficulties, and the nation’s continued economic challenges, we were forced to temporarily suspend in-patient clinical care for our children and families last month.  It was a very difficult decision for us to make but I am confident that, with the plans we currently have in place, we will come out of this restructuring period stronger and better than we have ever been.

Our Positive Plans for the Future

We have made some important additional changes in the past few weeks that will bring us closer to long-term financial viability and ultimately allow us to better fulfill the George Mark Children’s House mission.  These changes include:

• Forging new partnerships with hospitals and other healthcare institutions so as to strengthen our referral and our financial base.
• Securing insurance contracts that will allow us to be reimbursed at a rate closer to what it costs us to provide our comprehensive pediatric palliative care services.
• Exploring the potential of additional licenses that will allow us to increase reimbursements for our clinical and support services to children and families.
• Strengthening support from some of our institutional donors that will aid us during this transition phase.

We are moving forward on all of these fronts while we continue to provide some of our other services to children and families including counseling services, select special events such as the annual Family Picnic and Tales and Tiles day for remembering loved ones who are gone and professional training in pediatric palliative care to physicians and nurses.

Our Vision for George Mark Children’s House

We plan to reopen our doors for inpatient services in the next six to nine months.  We envision by that point that we will have a restructured model for the organization, providing a more diversified  revenue base and allowing us to be sustainable for the long term.  Most importantly, we envision continuing our work at the forefront of pediatric palliative care in the United States.  As the first facility of its kind, George Mark Children’s House will be stronger and better able to provide comprehensive pediatric palliative care to the children and families who need us most.  And we will further spread the word about the need for pediatric palliative care, and train health care practitioners to provide such care, throughout the United States.

Our Need for Your Support

Again, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the support that you have given to George Mark Children’s House since we opened our doors six years ago.  We hope that we can count on you to continue that support with a gift today to help further our work.  Together, we can help give the gift of time to the hundreds of children and families that depend on us at the most critical times of their lives.

Sincerely,

 

Peter A. Farber-Szekrenyi, Dr. P.H., M.P.H., M.B.A.

Chief Executive Officer

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