AnnualReport2020

available through affiliations with other local health care facilities. They are the fourth and fifth locations in our health care system to make this change. The Twin Cities (Minneapolis) facility is expected to move to a new location in the very near future. Within the next year, our Cincinnati hospital will be re-located to within Dayton Children’s Hospital in Dayton, Ohio. This change to a hospital- within-a-hospital model will make it possible for us to provide needed burn care and other services in a right-size space. In addition, our Houston, Texas, hospital is preparing to join our Galveston location, where it will be able to become a leader in sub-specialty pediatrics. We continue to review the markets, needs and strengths of each of our locations, and will determine the most workable care model for each one, based, primarily, on the needs of their patients, and secondarily on other factors, including local demographics and market analyses. Planning for the Future In preparation for our long-term future, last November the Joint Boards voted to increase available services at Shriners Hospitals for Children — Northern California, and to develop it as a Center of Excellence model. This decision was partially based on the current abilities and performance of our Northern California location, as well as the identification of the region as an area with increasing numbers of children. We have every hope that our Northern California hospital will become the choice of many more parents whose children need pediatric sub-specialty care. In addition, we expect the leadership of the Northern California Shriners Hospital to develop new collaborative relationships and outreach clinics in more communities, which will make it possible for us to serve more kids in more places. We intend for this future Center of Excellence to become a medical facility that showcases

our clinical skills and knowledge, as well as our signature collaborative, multidisciplinary approach. A Global Commitment to Children Technology continues to lessen the distances between us, making us more aware of the needs of the world’s children. In response, we continue to seek more ways to provide our services to children everywhere. The challenge is to do this as a system-wide initiative that is comprehensive and appropriate. We have a new International Outreach Strategy that will guide us in answering this challenge. New initiatives include the creation of an oversight office at headquarters in Tampa, Florida, the establishment of a database, development of consistent standards for every element of international outreach, including the referral process, clinic approvals, transportation, and determinations for future care at our U.S. locations. We intend to eliminate duplicate services and ensure that our clinics include education opportunities for local medical professionals. One of the most important goals of our outreach

Dear Fellow Nobles and Friends, I am very glad to have this opportunity to thank you for your trust, and for the opportunity to serve you again as Chairman of the Board of Trustees. The 2019-2020 Imperial year has been one of tremendous accomplishment and incredible, unexpected situations. Suddenly, we were all living and working in the midst of a pandemic – certainly uncharted territory. Every one of us deserves credit and appreciation for pulling together, finding solutions and continuing to focus on our mission and put our patients first. I am very proud of everyone associated with Shriners Hospitals for Children, and their diligence and efforts during this difficult time. This problem is not going to be solved quickly or easily – but I am confident that we will one day return to “normal,” and, in the meantime, we will continue to help one another, and do our best to care for others. The immeasurable threat associated with this pandemic forced our leadership to cancel Imperial Session, where we would have presented considerable information regarding the wonderful progress of Shriners Hospitals for Children over the past year. I will try to provide a condensed version here. Transitioning to Provide Efficient Care and Better Service We continue to adapt our primary care delivery model to one that emphasizes outpatient services, which is the industry expectation and standard. It is also more aligned with our goals of providing high-quality care more efficiently and effectively which, ultimately, will allow us to help more children, and strengthen our efforts to treat them closer to their homes. This past year, our locations in Tampa, Florida, and Minneapolis, Minnesota, became outpatient centers, with inpatient surgeries and services

effort, beyond providing care that children otherwise might not receive, is this educational component. Ultimately,

we want the children to be cared for in their home country, with our support, as needed. In 2019, 68 outreach

clinics were held outside the U.S., including 27 in Mexico, eight in Puerto Rico

and 33 in 13 other

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