Shriners Will Keep Hospitals Open
· Fraternity members decide against closing six hospitals
· Facing money crunch, system might change make some facilities outpatient-only
· Hospitals also to start accepting insurance instead of covering all costs
· Hospitals' leaders seek savings after endowment fund shrinks in stock market
full story
Shriners Hospitals for Children is a one-of-a-kind international health care system of 22 hospitals dedicated to improving the lives of children by providing specialty pediatric care, innovative research and outstanding teaching programs.
Children up to the age of 18 with orthopaedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries and cleft lip and palate are eligible for admission and receive all care in a family-centered environment at no charge - regardless of financial need.
Take a tour of some of our Shriners Hospitals for Children. Each tour is led by three Shriners Hospitals for Children patients.
If you know of a child Shriners Hospitals might be able to help, please call our toll-free patient referral line:
In the U.S.: 800.237.5055
In Canada: 800.361.7256
Shriners to Stay Open
This is from Springfield, MA but 5 others were on the short list as well.
No Shriners Hospitals Closing
Some may be outpatient-only
(CNN) -- All 22 Shriners Hospitals for Children will stay open, but some eventually might become outpatient-only surgery facilities, the system that offers free specialty pediatric care said Thursday.
The system, which has covered all costs of its patients' care throughout its 87-year history, eventually will accept insurance from patients who have it, members of the Shriners fraternity decided in their annual convention in San Antonio, Texas.
Accepting money from insurers and finding other ways to cut costs will help Shriners retain their presence in all 22 locations, said Doug Maxwell, the new president and CEO of Shriners Hospitals.
"Our membership affirmed that rather than closing any, we want to have that presence and take care of children in all those locations," though not all may remain inpatient facilities, Maxwell told CNN after the fraternity's convention ended Thursday.
The hospital system's board proposed months ago to close six hospitals largely because an $8.5 billion endowment fund lost more than $3 billion as the stock market plummeted last year.
Deflated investments weren't the only reason the fund dipped. The hospitals normally operate with the fund's interest and donations, but the system's $856 million 2009 budget was outpacing both, causing the hospitals to take about $1 million per day from the fund, the system said this year.
But delegates to the convention voted to withdraw the proposal to close the hospitals in Spokane, Washington; Erie, Pennsylvania; Greenville, South Carolina; Shreveport, Louisiana; Springfield, Massachusetts; and Galveston, Texas.
The hospital system has treated hundreds of thousands of children free of charge -- regardless of patients' ability to pay -- since the first facility opened in 1922. Most offer orthopedic care. Four, including the Galveston hospital, care for children who are burned, and some offer cleft lip and palate repair and spinal cord injury rehabilitation.
The system will continue to give care in these areas at no cost to the patients' families, he said.
One way to cut costs may be to transform some hospitals to outpatient-only surgery centers, Maxwell said. Many Shriners Hospitals have empty beds, in part because they were built during a time when many of their surgery patients needed to stay overnight.
But with advances in surgical techniques, fewer patients need to stay, so making some facilities outpatient-only might make sense, he said.
"The children that require overnight stays, we'll transport them to a larger Shriners hospital that do have the beds," said Maxwell, who was elected to his new position during the convention.
Eventually, he said, the system may have just eight regional inpatient hospitals, with the other 14 serving as outpatient centers. He didn't say which would make the switch or give a timetable for the possible changes.
Some centers also may move to smaller facilities, allowing Shriners to sell the old buildings to a nearby hospital that needs more space, Maxwell said.
Atania Gilmore, mother of a 9-year-old patient at the Spokane hospital, said she was relieved the facility is going to stay open.
Her son Grant, a scoliosis patient, has been fitted there for back braces for most of his life. He soon will need surgery to straighten the spine, and the plan is to have it there.
Gilmore, of Spokane, said she has private insurance and could have sought treatment for Grant elsewhere. But finances "weren't the only question" when it came to seeking care at Shriners, she said.
"Shriners, I don't think there's an equal to it," she said. "I trust the hospital completely to give us the right decisions and advice. ... They have so much compassion and care."
It may be a year or longer before Shriners accepts insurance and Medicaid, in part because the system needs to coordinate the move with insurers.
Weeks before the convention, Ralph Semb, then the Shriners Hospitals CEO, said the idea of accepting insurance and Medicaid had merit. But he cautioned that the hospitals would subject themselves to more oversight and possibly curtail their ability to treat patients as they see fit.
The Galveston hospital, which suspended its operations after Hurricane Ike flooded it last year, will reopen perhaps by Labor Day, Maxwell said. Some employees took other jobs, so the reopening date will depend on when the hospital can be staffed, he said.
[via CNN.com]
Shriners Hospitals for Children: How You Can Help

Help kids defy the odds. Donate online or download a mailable form.
Shriners Hospitals for Children is a one-of-a-kind health care system providing pediatric specialty care to thousands of kids each year...at no charge...thanks to the generosity of donors, past and present. There are many ways to give from direct gifts to planned gifts and all gifts, big or small, make a difference. Please donate today to help kids defy the odds.
For more information
Thank you for considering supporting Shriners Hospitals for Children. Contact the development office nearest you or the Office of Development at Shriners International Headquarters, to get more specific information on designating Shriners Hospitals for Children for living gifts, wills or trusts.
Shriners Hospitals for Children is a fully qualified 501(c)3 charitable organization under IRS regulations. Donations are tax-deductible as provided by law.
[via Support.ShrinersHospitals.org]
Double or Triple Your Dollars
Company matching gift programs can double your charitable donations and the impact of your gifts
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"Multiply Your Money" Heather Katsoulis @ iStockPhoto.com
Many companies offer matching gift programs as a way to encourage employees to contribute to charitable organizations. Most of these programs match contributions dollar for dollar, and some may even contribute more! Some companies will make charitable contributions to organizations you support with your volunteer time, as well.
This is a great way to double, or sometimes even triple, the impact of your giving.
How to Get Your Gift Matched
Every company has their own form and process. Use our online search feature or contact your human resources department to see if your company matches charitable gifts. Don't forget to check with your spouse's company, as well. Fill out the required paperwork and mail it to us. We'll do the rest.
[via Support.ShrinersHospitals.org]
Shriners in the News
it isn't good news lately
- Sturdevant guilty in assault, robbery
- The Blue Water Shrine Club and Shriners Hospitals will have an Outreach Clinic for children from 10 am to 2 pm today in the Blue Water YMCA, 1525 Third St., ...
- Galveston Shriners to reopen Wednesday
- It was kept closed by the combined boards of the International Shriners and Shriners Hospitals for Children after the economic downturn shrank the hospital ...
- JT Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, Round 2
- COM's The Live Report has all the news and notes from the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, and we'll be providing updates all day ...
- Local Shriners plan kids Outreach Clinic
- The Blue Water Shrine Club and Shriners Hospitals will have an Outreach Clinic for children from 10 am to 2 pm Saturday in the Blue Water YMCA, ...
Follow Shriners Hospital on Twitter
Keep up with the latest news

- shriners
- aka shriners
- 500 followers
- 112 following
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- Some of the top college football players have accepted invites to play in the East-West Game. See rosters here: http://bit.ly/1Bk9q7
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- RT: @MailOurMilitiary:think about Christmas! Mail schedule for APO's: http://tr.im/DkLM Make sure your soldier gets his/her pkg on time.
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- RT: @shrinershosp: Be safe this Halloween! Safety tips from the American Academy of Pediatrics http://tinyurl.com/ykdx5o9
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- Have you checked out beashrinernow.com?
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- RT: photos from the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open celeb pro am http://bit.ly/12OMu4 via @addthis
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- Thanks to Shriners, like members of the Ocala Shrine Club, @shrinershosp is helping kids defy the odds http://tinyurl.com/ygora3n
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- Questions about becoming a Freemason or Shriner? Find answers at www.beashrinernow.com
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- RT@jtshrinersopen: Do you have your tickets yet for th JT Shriners Open? Buy them now at www.jtshriners.open or 702.873.1010!
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- @TunaOddfellow Great! Which temple?
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- RT: @jtshrinersopen I posted 6 photos on Facebook of Shriners getting the keys to the city of Las Vegas http://bit.ly/1BSUmy
About Shriners

Shriners Hospitals for Children is a one-of-a-kind health care system dedicated to improving the lives of children by providing pediatric specialty care, innovative research and outstanding teaching programs. Every year, the 22 hospitals provide care for thousands of kids with orthopaedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries, and cleft lip and palate, in a family-centered environment at no charge. It's how Shriners Hospitals has been helping kids defy the odds since 1922.
Treatment
Nineteen Shriners Hospitals provide care for congenital and acquired orthopaedic conditions, four hospitals provide acute and rehabilitative care for burn injures, three hospitals provide rehabilitative care for children with spinal cord injuries, and the cleft lip and palate program is expanding to multiple Shriners Hospitals. Some Shriners Hospitals offer care in more than one care specialty.
Orthopaedic Care
Shriners Hospitals for Children has been a leader in pediatric orthopaedic care since 1922. The hospitals specializing in orthopaedics are dedicated to providing medical and rehabilitative services to children with congenital deformities, problems resulting from orthopaedic injuries and diseases of the musculoskeletal system.
Burn Care
The Shriners Hospitals specializing in burns have been leaders in burn care and research since opening in the mid-1960s. Treatment is provided for burn injuries and related scarring, along with physical and emotional rehabilitation.
Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation
In the early 1980s, Shriners Hospitals for Children opened the nation's first spinal cord injury rehabilitation centers specifically designed for kids. There, patients find a complete range of services needed in order to recover to the fullest extent possible.
Cleft Lip and Palate Care
Cleft lip and palate was added to the health care system's treatment disciplines in 2005. Services available at Shriners Hospitals fill the need for coordinated, comprehensive multidisciplinary care for children with this condition.
Research
Shriners Hospitals for Children is dedicated to conducting innovative research to provide answers to complex medical difficulties affecting children. Shriners Hospitals' contributions to the medical community not only benefit our patients, but contribute to the overall body of medical knowledge for the care and treatment for a wide range of pediatric and adult conditions worldwide.
Education
Shriners Hospitals for Children is proud of its role in medical education. In the past 20 years, more than 8,000 physicians have received residency education or postgraduate fellowship at Shriners Hospitals. By maintaining relationships with more than 60 medical teaching facilities worldwide, Shriners Hospitals for Children fosters an academic environment committed to providing high-quality medical care to all patients.
[via ShrinersHq.org]
Please Consider Supporting Shriners
Shriners Hosptial in Springfield, MA, as well as 5 other Shriners Hospitals, are slated to close because of fewer contributions - their sole income. As you may know my mother worked there for more than 20 years, my brother had dozens of (FREE!) surgeries there, I volunteered many of my school vacation hours there... it's a place that has been in my life since I was a child. Please consider donating to this amazing organization, either through this link or on your own; and may I also ask that you encourage others to do the same. Please?
mukunda22 wrote...
Yes, Shriner's has always been innovative and has thought outside the box!
Wait!! I forgot! There IS no box, except what the limited mind creates. And Shriner's has known how to avoid The Box!!
Congrats on the Purple Star!!
The_Health_Lady wrote...
Congrats on your purple star - it's a most deserving lens for a wonderful cause. Instead of car companies the govt. should be spending money on worthwhile charities such as the Shriners Hospital.
Joan4 wrote...
Wonderful! Congratulations on your well-deserved purple star! Blessed by a joyful SquidAngel!
tcinvestor wrote...
Fantastic job and such a good cause. It deserves a spot in lenses we like. I'll put it there. All the best.
ElizabethJeanAllen wrote...
Thanks for Sharing
I've added a link to this lens on my Random Acts of Kindness Day
Lizzy
Shriners Hospital Video
Inspirational stories on how the Shriners are making a difference in the lives of children
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Lensmaster hlkljgk, aka Heather Katsoulis, has been a member since July 21 2008, has rated 1,285 lenses, favorited 203, and has created 112 lenses from scratch. Heather Katsoulis donates their royalties to ASPCA. This member's top-ranked page is "How to Make Origami". See all my lenses
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