Ford Family Gift Boosts Pediatric Surgery Program at Packard Children’s Hospital

Gift endows Hospital’s first Surgeon-in-Chief and funds establishment of operating rooms designed for children

PALO ALTO – The pediatric surgery program at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford is taking a major step forward with the appointment of a surgeon-in-chief, a new position at the children’s hospital supported by a gift from Susan B. Ford.

The gift endows the surgeon-in-chief position at the hospital and also provides funds to establish the hospital’s new pediatric operating rooms.

Thomas M. Krummel, M.D., chair of the Department of Surgery at the Stanford School of Medicine, has been named the first Susan B. Ford surgeon-in-chief. A pediatric surgeon by practice, Krummel is developing the use of virtual reality technologies to train residents and pediatric surgeons. His pioneering research of the regenerative fetal wound repair helped lay the groundwork for the emerging field of tissue engineering. The appointment is effective as of September 1, 2002.

“We need strong surgical leadership to pursue our goals of preeminence and sustainability,” said Christopher Dawes, president and chief executive officer of Packard Children’s Hospital. “Dr. Krummel will be instrumental in helping develop our surgical programs, retain our outstanding staff, and recruit additional nationally and internationally recognized pediatric surgeons.” As surgeon-in-chief, Krummel will be appointed to the hospital’s executive management committee and the hospital’s board of directors.

According to Chief of Staff Harvey Cohen, M.D., Ph.D., the surgeon-in-chief position fills a critical need for a dedicated and focused leader of the hospital’s surgical programs, which have expanded dramatically in the last year with the recruitment of world-renowned pediatric heart surgeons Frank Hanley, M.D. and V. Mohan Reddy, M.D.

“The surgeon in chief will provide leadership to establish comprehensive pediatric surgical programs of excellence that will provide children the best surgical treatment available,” Cohen said.

The Ford gift also allows the hospital to build needed operating rooms for its growing surgical programs and will decrease the present need to transport children undergoing surgery to Stanford’s adult operating facilities. Packard operating rooms will be designed specifically for children with specialized equipment, personnel, and facilities that will accommodate the unique needs of pediatric patients.

The donation is one of the lead gifts of the Campaign for Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, a $500 million campaign launched by the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health last November on behalf of Packard Children’s Hospital and the pediatric programs of the Stanford University School of Medicine.

Susan Ford is an active community volunteer supporting children’s health and welfare in the community. She continues the long-standing dedication to Packard Children’s Hospital that she developed with her late husband, Tom Ford, who had been a trustee of the Children’s Hospital. Currently, Ford is a member of the foundation’s campaign committee.

“We are tremendously grateful to Susan for her volunteer leadership at the foundation that benefits many areas of the hospital as well as for her generosity that will significantly enhance the surgical programs and clinical care of children at Packard,” said Linda Collier, vice-president and campaign director at the foundation.

Ford also serves on the board of directors of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Peninsula Community Foundation, Peninsula Open Space Trust, Phillips Brooks School, and the Stanford Athletic Advisory Board. She is president of the Sand Hill Foundation, the family foundation that the Ford’s established in 1995, and on the President’s Advisory Council for the Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula.