DOERNBECHER JOINS OREGON CHARITABLE CHECKOFF PROGRAM

Oregon taxpayers can direct all or part of 2002 tax refunds to Doernbecher Children's Hospital

PORTLAND, Ore. - For the first time Doernbecher Children's Hospital will participate in the Oregon Charitable Checkoff Program, a statewide program in which Oregon taxpayers can designate all or part of their 2002 tax refunds to eligible charitable organizations. Gifts made this year to Doernbecher via this program have the added benefit of being matched, dollar for dollar, by the Ford Family Foundation of Roseburg, Ore.

Money directed to Doernbecher Children's Hospital through the checkoff program will support expansion of the Kenneth W. Ford Northwest Children's Cancer Center. The expansion will include a new 22-bed cancer inpatient unit, an infusion center for chemotherapy treatments, an enlarged cancer outpatient clinic, and four new pediatric intensive care rooms.

"We've seen a four-fold increase in pediatric cancer patients in six years," said F. Leonard Johnson, M.D., interim chairman of pediatrics in the OHSU School of Medicine. "We simply must expand our cancer facilities to accommodate this growing need. The checkoff program is one of the quickest, easiest ways for Oregonians to help us do that."

Oregon taxpayers interested in donating a portion of their tax refund through the Oregon Charitable Checkoff Program must write in code 9 on line 60 of Form 40 or on line 32 of Form 40S and then indicate the amount of their gift.

In order to participate in the Oregon Charitable Checkoff Program, charities must have: received at least $1 million in contributions and revenues the previous year, be tax-exempt, provide services to Oregonians that are consistent with the state's policies and programs, and gather 10,000 signatures from Oregon voters. Kiwanis Club members throughout the state played key roles in adding Doernbecher to the list of eligible charities by gathering the necessary signatures.

Earlier this year the Ford Family Foundation -- whose major gift to Doernbecher in the mid-1990s helped establish the Kenneth W. Ford Northwest Children's Cancer Center -- made a $2 million challenge grant to support expansion of the center. To secure the gift, an additional $2 million must be raised from community contributors by June 15, 2004.

With nationally recognized programs in pediatric heart surgery, neurosurgery and cancer, Doernbecher Children's Hospital provides primary and specialized care to nearly 40,000 patients each year from Oregon, southwest Washington and beyond. As part of Oregon Health & Science University, the state's only academic health and research institution, Doernbecher combines healing, teaching, discovery and outreach in its mission to improve the health of all children.

Expansion of the Kenneth W. Ford Northwest Children's Cancer Center is a key priority within Doernbecher's ongoing fund-raising campaign for the future. For more information on giving opportunities, contact Lyn Trainer, Doernbecher Foundation, at 503 220-8342 or email trainerl@ohsu.edu. You may also make a gift online at www.doernbecherfoundation.org.

Doernbecher's Kenneth W. Ford Northwest Children's Cancer Center Expansion Project - Fact Sheet

WHY THE NEED:

• Physician and scientists at Doernbecher Children's Hospital care for more than 80 percent of the children who are battling cancer in Oregon. During the last four years, clinic visits rose from 2,500 annually to more than 9,000, the average daily census in the inpatient unit has increased from nine to 20, and this year 200 new children with cancer will be referred to Doernbecher.
• An expansion would allow the staff to provide care to 30 to 40 percent more children who need surgery, 70 percent more who need chemotherapy infusion treatment and 40 percent more visits to the clinic.
• Doernbecher houses the region's first and only Comprehensive Pediatric Brain Tumor Program. The program combines the talents of a neurosurgeon, neuro-oncologist , nurse practitioner, radiation oncologist, physical therapist and psychologist all on one team in one clinic visit.
• Doernbecher is the only hospital in Oregon that performs pediatric stem cell and bone marrow transplants. Stem cell transplants are expected to rise from 22 to 40 this year.
• Doernbecher recently became one of only 21 Phase I Institutions in the United States funded by the National Cancer Institute to test new pediatric cancer treatments. It was the first hospital in the world to study pediatric applications of Gleevec, a new leukemia-fighting pill developed at OHSU.

WHAT THE EXPANSION WILL BE:

• Construction is expected to begin in the fall of 2003 on a new 22-bed inpatient unit, 12 outpatient infusion beds, an expansion of the eight- examination room outpatient clinic and a new school room. The current 16-bed inpatient cancer unit will provide additional beds when needed, for a total of 38 available beds.
• The Doernbecher Foundation hopes to raise $13.5 million through community support to help fund the first phase of the cancer center expansion, along with an addition of pediatric intensive care rooms.

DOERNBECHER CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL:

• Doernbecher is the region's only hospital with specialists in every major area of pediatric care. Last year, close to 40,000 children from Oregon, Southwest Washington and surrounding states made more than 145,000 visits to the hospital and clinics.
• Doernbecher is a major referral center for cancer, heart disease, cardiac surgery, diabetes, kidney disease, neonatal and pediatric intensive care, metabolic disorders, organ and stem cell transplantation and trauma.

To donate to the Doernbecher Children's Hospital cancer expansion, call 503 220-8342 or toll free at 800 800-9583; or visit the Doernbecher Children's Hospital Foundation on the Web at www.ohsuhealth.com/dch/support