Hospital to honor CEO with center

Bates retires from Children’s in June

Arkansas Children’s Hospital plans to create a center and an endowed research chair in honor of President and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Jonathan Bates, who announced his retirement Friday.

Donorshave contributed $3 million to endow the project, and hospital fundraisers planto continue their work as Bates prepares to leave his post June 30.

The leader of the Jonathan R. Bates, MD Center for Patient and Professional Advocacy will use funds generated by the endowment to implement new hospital policies and training that will improve patient care, reduce costs and improve children’s health, said Tom Baxter, chairman of the hospital’s board.

“Dr. Bates’ career is truly characterized by this work,” he said.

At his planned retirement date, Bates, 67, will have spent 20 years at the helm of the state’s only pediatric medical center, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.

At an event held to announce the new project Friday, community leaders and hospital employees credited Bates for contributions to the state’s public-health initiatives, a commitment to cooperation and a drive to improve the hospital, which expanded greatly under his leadership.

“A leader deserves credit for being able to lead a team of wonderful people who do that work and make that progress,” Gov. Mike Beebe said. “You are the face of this institution, and we celebrate your tenure here.”

Beebe praised Bates for helping create a plan to spend millions of dollars Arkansas received in a 1998 settlement between tobacco companiesand 46 states.

That money has funded public-health initiatives around Arkansas, including the state’s fledgling trauma network, which has designated the Children’s Hospital as a Level I Trauma Center. Hospitals with the Level I designation can offer emergency treatment for the most-severe traumatic injuries.

Former President and Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton said in a letter that Bates’ leadership in expanding the hospital’s intensive care units and adding a new wing will allow it “to treat more children, especially underprivileged children, than ever.”

“The fact that this facility has become the pediatric center of choice in many of our neighboring states is a testament to how far-reaching your efforts have been,” Clinton wrote.

A timeline of Bates’ service described hospital milestones: the creation of a research center for birth defects, the launch of centers to treat children in other parts of the state, the formation of an injury-prevention group that advocated for seat-belt laws and the start of a mobile dental program that treats children throughout Arkansas.

Bates, an avid woodworker, also put a personal touch onthe hospital, carving a grandfather clock for its board room, the timeline said.

The hospital’s board has formed a search committee and hired the Witt/Kieffer executive search firm, which helped bring Bates to Arkansas, to find a new president and chief executive officer before Bates leaves in June, Baxter said.

Bates, who jokingly described himself as a “roughedged Yankee” when he firstcame to Arkansas, said the work staff members and donors have done to improve and expand the hospital during his tenure should help the committee find an even better leader.

“If you have better bait, you’ll get a better fish,” he said.

As a participant in national efforts to improve children’s medical treatment, Bates applauded the creation of the new center in his name.

“I think it’s a wonderful direction to go in,” he said.

Fred Scarborough, president of the hospital’s foundation, said fundraisers have left the Center for Patient and Professional Advocacy’s direction and projects to the discretion of its leader, who will hold the endowed chair.

“It really is designed to enhance our current efforts,” Scarborough said.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 12/08/2012

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