Children’s Hospital started as a two-room day nursery where families working in the downtown factories could bring their children instead of taking them to work with them.
When they were organizing, they came up with three promises: Treat every child as if that child is our own. Treat everybody the way you want to be treated. Never turn a child away for any reason.
Back in 1889, the big reason was racial. Today, the big reason is finances. The doors are always open.
A 13-year-old girl named Angie had a battle with cancer and died in the mid-’90s. She used our therapy program and gave out hundreds of sun catchers. Her mother, Joyce, came to me and said Children’s is a great place, but you could be better. From that, we formed a parent advisory committee and a parent mentor program.
Joyce presented to me one of Angie’s sun catchers. There were two sun catchers she hadn’t finished. The little corners of the glass weren’t painted in. Joyce keeps one at home to remind her that her work as Angie’s mom will never be finished.
Our work will never be done. Her spirit is still alive within this organization.
I was 32 when I was hired. Children’s has been around for 121 years. The past 65 years there have been two CEOs of this organization. That’s unheard of in this business of health care.
We see nearly 600,000 children a year through all our programs. There’s a story with every one. They’re enriching. Every one. Some of them are horrific in nature because of the way a child’s been exploited, not nurtured, not cared for. But there’s a lesson there. You can’t close yourself off from that.
We see not only the exuberance of miracles that occur here, but we also then see the sad side of our society.
You open your heart. You can gain strength from all these situations.
I have three children. Being a parent puts a different perspective on what we do.
I do employee orientation every two weeks in person.
There’s no time for a bad hair day. If you couldn’t find a parking spot when you came to work, if the IT system’s not working — those are real issues, but we can never make those issues the problem of the family and the patient we’re caring for.
It’s not a job, it’s a privilege. If it’s a job, you’re probably not going to be very happy in the service business.
My parents always provided a home that had love in it. They always believed in reaching out and being involved with church and neighbors. They tried continually to get us as kids to get outside our comfort zone.
Mrs. Buntz was my kindergarten teacher at Lincoln Elementary School. She created a welcoming learning environment the first day I walked into that kindergarten classroom. How many kids do we hear about getting turned off of education early on?
I had a speech teacher in my sophomore year of high school. I was involved in basketball, track. He said, “You should be in a school play.” I was in an all-boys school. Why am I going to do something like that? He challenged me, and what a great experience.
Our Town. Teahouse of the August Moon. A series of school musicals we did with the Elms and St. Mary’s.
We have some wonderful heritages and traditions that are very strong and that we need to celebrate in bad times. That can give you the energy to do some creative things going forward.
If your glass is always half empty, you predestine outcomes of things you get involved in. As a region, we’ve got to continue to work on getting that negativity out of here. Be proud of who we are.
You’re asking a guy who never thinks in those kinds of terms. When you start thinking in terms of mistakes, you develop this emotion called fear. Fear is a paralyzing kind of thing.
You’ve got the wrong people in the locker room? Get them out of the locker room. It polarizes.
If your team feels respected, if they feel empowered, if they’re being recognized, they build pride in what they do. If you empower your folks and they really can embrace their work, they identify with it.
If you can get your people engaged, they can make the wrong choice and make it work. But if you don’t have your people engaged and they’re not working together, they can pick the right decision and it doesn’t have a chance.
I try to start with the good in everybody.
I have learned to have a pretty good sensitivity for my audience and not worry about what I’m saying but what they’re hearing. When you’re working with people, that becomes very, very important.
TIMELINE
1947
William Considine is born on July 7.
1969
He earns a bachelor’s of arts degree from the University of Akron.
1971
He earns a master’s degree in hospital and health services administration from The Ohio State University.
1972
Considine marries Rebecca on Oct. 14.
1979
He becomes Akron Children’s CEO.
Akron Children’s new medical/surgical intensive care unit opens.
1981
The inpatient pediatric psychiatry unit and the division of adolescent medicine open.
1984
Akron’s Ronald McDonald House opens.
1986
Akron Children’s adds child advocacy to its mission, redefining nationally the role of children’s hospitals in public policy debates. Considine is awarded the University of Akron’s Alumni Honor.
1987
He is elected chairman of the National Association of Children’s Hospitals and Related Institutions.
1990
He spearheads Akron Children’s Hospital’s Centennial renovation, a 250,000-square-foot addition.
1994
Considine initiates Akron Children’s Parent Advisory Council. He forms Akron Children’s Hospital Physician Associates, a network of 15 primary care physician offices throughout Northeast Ohio.
2001
The Heart Center at Akron Children’s Hospital is established. Bowery Professional Building, later renamed Considine Professional Building, opens.
2008
Akron Children’s opens a pediatric hospital in Boardman. Akron Children’s Air Bear, Ohio’s only dedicated pediatric transport helicopter, takes its first flight.
2009
Akron Children’s opens a new Ear, Nose & Throat Center, a Plastics and Reconstructive Surgery Center and a pediatric ER in Montrose.