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St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Main Entrance | |
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Place | Memphis, Tennessee, (US) |
| Organization | |
| Care System | Private & Charity |
| Hospital Type | Specialist |
| Affiliated University | Unknown |
| Services | |
| Emergency Dept. | No |
| Beds | 62 |
| Speciality | Pediatric Oncology |
| History | |
| Founded | 1962 |
| Links | |
| Website | Homepage |
| See also | Hospitals in the United States |
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, won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for work related to how the immune system kills virus-infected cells.
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St. Jude was founded by the late 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 desperate cases and lost causes. Thomas was a struggling young entertainer when he knelt in a Chicago church[1] 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.” 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.
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. 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.
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, causes the hospital to incur more than $1.5 million in operating costs each day.[1]
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 $420,000. The Dream Home Giveaway, one of the largest national fund-raising programs, is conducted in cities across the United States.
In November of 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, 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, 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.
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.[1]