Arkansas Children’s Hospital on Monday celebrated its 100th anniversary and marked progress on a $160 million fundraising campaign during a news conference that featured former President Bill Clinton and Gov. Mike Beebe.
The hospital said it had raised $100 million for pediatric care, research, education and prevention programs as part of its "Century of Possibility" campaign.
Money used from the campaign will be used to build more buildings, innovative research, training and education and injury prevention programs.
The campaign began in July 2007 and continues through 2014.
"The only thing that matters really is whether people are better off when you quit than when you started … and whether the children have a brighter future," Clinton said told the crowd of several hundred people that included U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., and his father, former Sen. David Pryor, D-Ark.
"Because of this campaign and because of what’s been done over the last three decades or so, there’s a very good chance that 100 years from now, a bunch of other people will be here celebrating another centennial," Clinton said. "They won’t even know our names, yet they will stand on your shoulders. And for that I am very grateful."
Beebe said that the hospital has played a vital role in the state’s health care over the last century. But the most significant thing the hospital does is done daily.
"Where one ray of hope is provided," for a child, Beebe said.
Arkansas Children’s Hospital is the only pediatric hospital in the state, serving all 75 counties and taking in patients from many other states.
The hospital has 316 beds, about 500 staff physicians and more than 4,400 employees.
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