“CHOC is now responsible for the lives of more children than the entire child population in any
one of 39 states—two million kids. Market and mission demands are pushing us to grow and
pulling us toward our destiny—to perform in the ranks of our nation’s premiere children’s
hospitals. There’s no room for ambiguity about where we are and where we must go.”
Kimberly C. Cripe, President and Chief Executive Officer, CHOC Children’s
CHOC Children’s at a Tipping Point
Success has pushed us into hypergrowth. CHOC hospitals and clinics are overflowing with patients, constantly running on the edge of capacity. Since 1998, the hospital’s inpatient admissions have grown 95%, and specialty care clinic visits have risen 145%. Between our inpatient, outpatient, specialty, and primary care clinics, in this next year, we will serve more than 205,000 children. CHOC’s pediatric transport team is the second busiest in the United States, managing in excess of 4,000 inbound CHOC ambulance and helicopter transports a year. We are the 16th busiest children’s hospital in the nation and, overall, one of the 25 largest children’s hospitals in the country. Moreover, capacity challenges go beyond space and beds. We have a critical shortage of pediatric specialists and subspecialists.
Doing Something About It
How do we complete CHOC Children’s, making the leap to sustainable status as a world-class institution and make Orange County one of the medically safest and healthiest communities for children in the nation? Our assessment has led us to conclude that three strategic initiatives, executed in parallel, must be our focus over the next five years: build a major new facility; build a significant endowment; and build a robust, multifaceted affiliation with an academic medical center.
