Donation Will Enable Patients and Families with Limited Financial Means
to Benefit from Cutting-Edge Research and Treatments at Children's Hospital
PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Children's Hospital
of Philadelphia is delighted to announce a $1 million gift from
GlaxoSmithKline. This donation will be matched by Children's Hospital to
create the GlaxoSmithKline Hope for Families Fund, a permanent endowment
that will help children and young adults with relapsed cancers gain access
to innovative new therapies at the Hospital. Specifically, the fund will
provide assistance to patients from low-income or needy families for travel
and living expenses they may incur while receiving care at Children's
Hospital.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080930/36334)
"We are thrilled and honored to be able to ease the financial burden
for children and families who need the extraordinary care that Children's
Hospital provides," said Dan Phelan, chief of staff, GlaxoSmithKline.
"Improving the lives of people around the world is at the heart of our work
at GlaxoSmithKline. The combined efforts of developing innovative medicines
and vaccines alongside our work with communities can have a genuine impact
on society. We are excited to work with Children's Hospital to help
patients receive the care they need."
The Cancer Center at Children's Hospital is dedicated to eradicating
childhood cancer through a bench-to-bedside program of discovery translated
into new therapies. Currently, the program provides care to patients from
across the nation and around world. Often children and family members need
to stay for days, weeks and sometimes months to receive treatment.
"We are extremely grateful to GlaxoSmithKline for this remarkable
donation," said Steven M. Altschuler, M.D., president and chief executive
officer of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "Corporate philanthropy is
critical to furthering our mission to provide the very best family-centered
care possible. When a child is diagnosed with cancer, the whole family is
affected, and often consumed with emotional, logistical and economic
stress. This fund will help to ease the financial burdens these families
face, and allow them to focus on the health of their child."
"As our portfolio of new drugs for childhood cancer grew, we became
concerned about the financial burden placed on families traveling to
Children's Hospital," explained John M. Maris, M.D., acting chief of the
Division of Oncology and director of the Center for Childhood Cancer
Research at Children's Hospital. "Some might decide to forgo treatment
because of limited financial ability. The Hope for Families Fund will allow
all children with relapsed cancers to access Children's Hospital's
services, regardless of their families' financial means."
The Hope for Families Fund will benefit needy children facing the most
difficult-to-cure cancers. The fund will reimburse travel expenses
including gas, plane tickets, taxi fares, and provide food vouchers, hotels
and other necessary travel expenditures for the patient and a parent or
family member. A special committee will select the families that will
benefit from the fund based on those demonstrating the most pressing
financial need.
The Cancer Center at Children's Hospital aims to provide the most
skilled, compassionate care available. State-of-the-art facilities enable
the Cancer Center to offer comprehensive, family-centered care from more
than 40 nationally and internationally renowned pediatric oncologists.
Their combined expertise spans every major form of childhood cancer. Each
year, the Cancer Center treats 500 new patients and follows more than 4,000
patients, making the program one of the largest pediatric cancer programs
in the world. Recently, the program has focused heavily on developing new
drugs for childhood cancer, and the national referral-basis for these
unique clinical trials led to the need for a program such as the Hope for
Families Fund. Therefore with the help of GlaxoSmithKline, Children's
Hospital is moving one step closer to insuring all children with cancer are
provided the best possible care.
The Cancer Center at Children's Hospital is a Phase I institution and
leader within the Children's Oncology Group. Working with other elite
institutions in this collaborative group, as well as with several other
cooperative networks, enables Children's Hospital researchers to fast-track
novel therapies that require testing in children. Perhaps even more
importantly, there is a broad laboratory and gene-hunting program at
Children's Hospital that is discovering the new therapies that are now
making their way to the clinic. A commitment to advancing treatment begins
with basic and translational research. The Center's leadership role within
Children's Oncology Group allows them to offer cutting-edge treatment not
available at other institutions from the pediatric oncology experts who
translate basic science into these new treatments.
About GlaxoSmithKline: GlaxoSmithKline - one of the world's leading
research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies - is committed to
improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel
better and live longer. For company information and details of the
company's updated product development pipeline, visit GlaxoSmithKline at
http://www.gsk-us.com.
About Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: Children's Hospital of
Philadelphia was founded in 1855 as the nation's first pediatric hospital.
Through its long-standing commitment to providing exceptional patient care,
training new generations of pediatric healthcare professionals and
pioneering major research initiatives, Children's Hospital has fostered
many discoveries that have benefited children worldwide. Its pediatric
research program is among the largest in the country, ranking third in
National Institutes of Health funding. In addition, its unique
family-centered care and public service programs have brought the 430-bed
hospital recognition as a leading advocate for children and adolescents.
For more information, visit http://www.chop.edu.
CONTACT: Ashley Moore of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia,
+1-267-426-6071, Cell: +1-215-630-4683, moorea1@email.chop.edu; or Sarah
Alspach of GlaxoSmithKline, +1-215-751-4185, Cell: +1-215-287-6354,
sarah.g.alspach@gsk.com
SOURCE The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
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Related links:
http://www.chop.edu
http://www.gsk-us.com
Photo Notes:http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080930/36334
http://photoarchive.ap.org AP PhotoExpress Network: PRN10
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
CONTACT:
Ashley Moore of Children's Hospital of
Philadelphia, +1-267-426-6071, Cell: +1-215-630-4683,
moorea1@email.chop.edu; or Sarah Alspach of GlaxoSmithKline,
+1-215-751-4185, Cell: +1-215-287-6354, sarah.g.alspach@gsk.com
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