St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (Memphis, Tennessee)

Infobox Hospital
Name = St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital (Memphis, Tennessee)
Org/Group =

---

Caption = Main Entrance

Location = 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis
Region =
State = Tennessee
Country = US
HealthCare = Private & Charity
Type = Specialist
Speciality = Pediatric Oncology
Standards = JCAHO accreditation
Emergency = No
Affiliation =
Founded = 1962
Closed =
Website = http://www.stjude.org/
Wiki-Links = |

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, founded in 1962, is a leading pediatric treatment and research facility focused on children's catastrophic diseases. It is located in Memphis, Tennessee.

In 1996, Peter Doherty, Ph.D., of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, was corecipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for work related to how the immune system kills virus-infected cells.

History

St. Jude was founded by entertainer Danny Thomas on the premise that "no child should die in the dawn of life." Thomas named the hospital for Saint Jude Thaddeus, the Catholic patron saint of hospitals, desperate cases and lost causes. Thomas was a struggling young entertainer when he knelt in a Detroit church before a statue of St. Jude Thaddeus and asked the saint to “show me my way in life and I will build you a shrine.” [cite web |title=The National Shrine of St. Jude |url=http://shrineofstjude.claretians.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ssj_jude_danny_thomas&JServSessionIdr009=kyp8g74bg4.app45a |accessdate=2008-07-03] Thomas's prayer was answered, and he soon moved his family to Chicago to pursue career offers. In 1957, Thomas founded the American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities (ALSAC), which helped him realize his dream. ALSAC is the fundraising organization of St. Jude. Since St. Jude opened its doors in 1962, ALSAC has had the responsibility of raising the necessary funds to keep the hospital open.

The Hospital

Discoveries at St. Jude have completely changed how doctors treat children with cancer and other catastrophic illnesses. Since St. Jude was established, the survival rate for acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common type of childhood cancer, has increased from 4 percent in 1962 to 94 percent today. St. Jude has treated children from across the United States and from more than 70 countries. Doctors across the world consult with St. Jude on their toughest cases, in which there is no cure for or is a severe case of it. Also, St. Jude has an International Outreach Program to improve the survival rates of children with catastrophic illnesses worldwide through the transfer of knowledge, technology and organizational skills.

Funding

All medically eligible patients who are accepted for treatment at St. Jude are treated without regard to the family's ability to pay. St. Jude is the only pediatric research center where families never pay for treatments that are not covered by insurance, and families without insurance are never asked to pay. In addition to providing medical services to eligible patients, St. Jude also assists families with transportation, lodging, and meals. Three separate specially-designed patient housing facilities—Grizzly House for short-term (up to two weeks), Ronald McDonald House for medium-term (two weeks to 3 months), and Target House for long-term (3 months or more)—provide housing for patients and up to three family members, with no cost to the patient. These policies, along with research expenses and other costs, cause the hospital to incur more than $1.5 million in operating costs each day. Around $180,000 is covered by patient insurance, the remaining $1.34M/day is funded by charitable contributions.cite paper
title = Annual Report
version = 2005
publisher = St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
date = January, 2006
url = http://www.stjude.org/content/files/3/20651report05.pdf
format = PDF
accessdate = 2006-11-03]

To cover these costs, ALSAC conducts many fund-raising events and activities. The Stanford St. Jude Championship, a PGA Tour event, is one of the most visible fund-raising events for the hospital. Other fund-raising programs include the St. Jude Math-A-Thon, Up 'til Dawn, direct mailings, radiothons and television marketing.

St. Jude also has a merchandise catalog called the Hope Catalog. The catalog contains everything from shirts to office items, and from patient art to "Give Thanks" wristbands.

One of the hospital's most recent and successful fund-raising efforts has been the Dream Home Giveaway. The giveaway allows contest entrants to reserve tickets for $100 each to qualify to win homes valued up to $720,000. The Dream Home Giveaway, one of the largest national fund-raising programs, is conducted in cities across the United States.

In November 2004, St. Jude launched its inaugural Thanks and Giving campaign which encourages consumers to help raise funds at participating retailers by adding a donation at checkout or by purchasing specialty items to benefit St. Jude. The campaign is supported by network television spots, advertisements in major publications, interactive marketing on Yahoo! and a movie trailer that runs on 20,000 screens nationwide. Corporations such as Target, Domino’s Pizza, the Williams-Sonoma family of brands, CVS/pharmacy, Kmart, Kay Jewelers, 7-Eleven, Inc., American Airlines, American Kiosk Management, AutoZone, BJ’s Wholesale, Brooks Brothers, Busch Gardens, Casual Male XL, Catherines, Club Libby Lu, The Coffee Beanery, Diane von Furstenberg, Dollar General, Easy Spirit, General Nutrition Centers, Gymboree, Home Shopping Network, J. P. Morgan Chase, Marshalls, The Melting Pot, Memphis Grizzlies (NBA), Nine West, Rochester, Sag Harbor, Saks Fifth Avenue, SeaWorld, St. Louis Rams (NFL), West Elm, Westfield Shoppingtowns, and Yahoo! give customers a host of opportunities to support St. Jude.

St. Jude has been named one of two International Philanthropic Projects of Epsilon Sigma Alpha International, a women's service sorority. As of July 2006, ESA has raised more than $100 million for St. Jude.

At various college campuses, student organizations, including Fraternities and Sororities raise funds in a program called Up 'til Dawncite web |url=http://www.stjude.org/stjude/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=c733e64c5b470110VgnVCM1000001e0215acRCRD&vgnextchannel=f7d7bfe82e118010VgnVCM1000000e2015acRCRD |title=Up 'Till Dawn |publisher=St. Jude Children's Research Hospital |accessdate=2008-01-29]

For the past five years, 83.7% of every dollar received by St. Jude has gone to the current or future needs of St. Jude. As of 2006, for the past two years 47% of program expenses have gone to patient care and 41% to research.

In 1999 Delta Delta Delta, ΔΔΔ, formed a partnership with St. Jude, which more focused TriDelta's philanthropic scope. Currently, TriDelta supports St. Jude nationally, as well as children's cancer charities at a local level. TriDelta donated the Teen Room within St. Jude, a room especially for teenage patients to relax and spend time with each other. This room is "off-limits" to small children and adults. Currently, TriDelta is committed to a 10 in 10 campaign. The goal is to raise $10 million in 10 years. Some of this money is for The Chili's Care Center/ TriDelta Patient Care Floor. This new floor is located in the new building of St. Jude and will be used for patient treatment and brain tumor research.

In 2002, another dream of Danny Thomas became a reality when the Children's Cancer Center of Lebanon was established in Beirut on April 12, 2002. The center is an affiliate of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and works in association with the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC). [ [http://www.cccl.org.lb/home.htm Children's Cancer Center ] ]

Affiliates

St. Jude associates it with several different affiliate hospitals around the nation to further its efforts beyond its own physical walls. The hospital uses its Domestic Affiliates Program to form this partnership with the other pediatric programs. This program is a network of hematology clinics, hospitals, and universities that are united under the mission of St. Jude.

These sites are used as a means of referring eligible patients to St. Jude as well as a location to administer some care. Through the Domestic Affiliates Program staff at St. Jude work together and collaborate with those at the other institutions. Affiliated sites are expected to comply with standards set by St. Jude and are audited to ensure proper and quality care.cite web |url=http://www.stjude.org/stjude/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=ab676f9523e70110VgnVCM1000001e0215acRCRD&vgnextchannel=216615faf7118010VgnVCM1000000e2015acRCRD |title=Domestic Affiliates |publisher=St. Jude Children's Research Hospital |accessdate=2008-01-29]

Currently the Domestic Affiliate Clinic sites include: [cite web |url=http://www.stjude.org/stjude/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=4ab16f9523e70110VgnVCM1000001e0215acRCRD&vgnextchannel=c38615faf7118010VgnVCM1000000e2015acRCRD |title=Domestic Affiliate Clinic Sites |publisher=St. Jude Children's Research Hospital |accessdate=2008-01-29]
# Johnson City Medical Center in Johnson City, Tennessee
# St. Jude Midwest Affiliate in Peoria, Illinois
# Louisiana State University, Department of Pediatrics, in Shreveport, Louisiana
# Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
# Huntsville Hospital for Women & Children, in Huntsville, Alabama

McDonald's Monopoly

In 1995, St. Jude received an anonymous letter postmarked Dallas, Texas, containing a $1 million winning game piece from the McDonald's Monopoly. Although game rules prohibited the transfer of prizes, McDonald's waived the rule and has made the annual $50,000 installments. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9806E6DD1F39F93BA35751C1A963958260 Donor Turns Fast Food Into Big Bucks For Hospital - New York Times ] ]

References

See also

* The Cure4Kids Global Education and Collaboration Network

External links

* [http://www.stjude.org St.Jude Children's Research Hospital Website]
* [http://www.tridelta.org/philanthropy/St_Jude_Childrens_Hospital.asp TriDelta Philanthropy Website]
* [http://www.stjude.org/stjude/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=4ab16f9523e70110VgnVCM1000001e0215acRCRD&vgnextchannel=c38615faf7118010VgnVCM1000000e2015acRCRD Domestic Affiliate Clinic Sites]