Thomason CEO: Game Plan In Place For Children’s Hospital

EL PASO — Not quite two weeks have passed since voters narrowly approved an bond initiative to fund a new stand-alone children’s hospital, but officials say plans for the facility are well underway.

The hospital will be built next to the county-run Thomason Hospital. Thomason’s CEO, Jim Valenti, said on Sunday he has a seven-point road map that should spell success for the project.

Valenti said planners will report all the hospital’s work to the people. Also crucial to the development, he said, is investing the bond money wisely, and perform effective recruitment.

“These are good jobs for the community,” Valenti said. “We’re going to need 200 plus individuals in nursing and allied health.”

Also on his checklist: assuring the building’s design meets the needs of mothers, babies, and children, and assuring the hospital meets all state regulations.

Another factor is management, Valenti said. The Children’s Hospital of El Paso will have its own board that will recruit its own chief executive officer. Valenti also said planners will make sure those who appoint those board members, like pediatric physicians and specialists, are aware of their responsibilities.

“It will require a lot of critical thought, it will require time, we want individuals that will commit,” he said.

Valenti said he is confident his points will keep the hospital’s future in clear focus for the next four years, in time for its scheduled opening in 2011.