Hospital Achieves Success By Doing What's Best For Children

Sam E. Hilburn, 33^o
Chairman, Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children
S.G.I.G. in Texas, and Grand Treasurer of The Supreme Council, 33^o

Is it good for the child?" For 75 years, this question has served as the guiding standard for Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children (TSRHC). It is the ultimate goal of the hospital to ensure that each child who passes through its doors receives individual attention, loving treatment, and the best pediatric orthopedic medical care available.

Since its founding in Dallas by a group of Masons on October 6, 1921, the hospital has remained true to this goal, and has done so without cost to any patient's family. This, in part, is what makes Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children so special. It's what sets the hospital apart from other institutions.

Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children is funded solely by private donations. The hospital has carefully turned these donations into an operating budget that enables the hospital to provide state-of- the-art treatment without compromise. The hospital offers medical care in a manner that puts the child first, above and beyond any administrative or financial guidelines or directives from outside sources.

But more importantly, the hospital has remained true to its mission. Since its beginning, TSRHC has focused on what it does best: treating children with orthopedic disabilities, related neurological conditions, and learning differences. The hospital has grown from an eight-bed facility, treating only polio patients, into one of the leading pediatric orthopedic hospitals in the nation. In 1995 alone, the hospital scheduled more than 38,000 outpatient visits and performed more than 4,400 surgeries utilizing the most innovative procedures available, many of which have been developed by the hospital's staff.

The staff members treat each child as one of their own. Placing great emphasis on caring for the whole child in the diagnosis and treatment process is crucial not only to the child's physical ailment, but also to the child's entire well-being. This immediate attention and one-on-one interaction reduces not only the child's fears, but those of his or her parents. It also develops a sense of trust between the patient's family and their physician, which is essential to the healing process.

Children, from birth to 18 years old, can be seen almost immediately with a referral from their pediatrician or family practitioner. The six pediatric orthopedic surgeons and 26 full-time physicians at TSRHC treat a variety of orthopedic conditions including arthritis, cerebral palsy, clubfoot, congenital dislocated hip, limb-length differences, muscular dystrophy, scoliosis, and spina bifida as well as other orthopedic problems.

The hospital cares for the whole child, not just the physical ailment, and always asks the question "Is it good for the child?" before any decision is made. The answer guides the staff at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children.

The hospital's mission, and the phenomenal medical successes the hospital has achieved, are the main reasons many donate not just money but their time and effort to the loving treatment and programs offered at the hospital's facility in Dallas.

On behalf of the staff and Board of Trustees of Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, I want to take this opportunity to thank our many friends for sharing our ongoing dedication to children and for supporting Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children. Thanks for 75 wonderful years!

The above article is reprinted from the "Speaking Out" section of The Midland [Texas] Reporter Telegram of Nov. 24, 1996, Sec. A., page 15.