CHKD finds friends in high places

In moments of crisis, parents reflexively reach for their children. A sudden stop in traffic or the sound of a siren prompts an instantaneous instinct to shield fragile lives from danger.

State leaders could not spare the youngest Virginians from the pain of this year's budget cuts. Larger classrooms and fewer enrichment programs are the inevitable outcomes of reduced aid to public schools.

Fortunately, Gov. Bob McDonnell and key lawmakers have recognized the need to protect Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters from what could otherwise be devastating financial harm.

Almost every parent in Hampton Roads has some connection with CHKD, has watched a child find solace and healing in its halls. Because of that, Virginians - and especially people here - take cuts at CHKD seriously and even personally.

McDonnell announced last week that he will ask legislators to restore $1.8 million to the Norfolk pediatric hospital when they meet April 21. The General Assembly should approve the budget amendment, enabling CHKD to secure matching federal Medicaid funds necessary for it to continue its unique mission in Hampton Roads.

Because Medicaid eligibility is designed to ensure medical care for low-income children, CHKD is more sensitive to cuts in the government-funded health insurance program than any other hospital in Virginia. More than half of its patient visits are billed to the program, roughly twice the rate experienced at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center in Richmond.

Suffolk Del. Chris Jones, an influential budget negotiator, and Norfolk Sen. Ralph Northam, a pediatric neurologist who has spent many hours tending to young patients at CHKD, pressed McDonnell for assistance in finding additional funds.

McDonnell was sympathetic to the cause and last week vowed to protect the hospital and its patients.

"The Children's Hospital does amazing work for Virginia children in desperate need of medical care," he said in a statement. "Living in Virginia Beach, I came to know the facility well."

A year from this month, CHKD will celebrate 50 years of caring for premature infants, young cancer patients and other youths needing care in Hampton Roads.

McDonnell and state lawmakers deserve credit for helping the hospital achieve that important milestone.