Photos courtesy of John Nixon Photography
In June, former Nationwide Children’s CEO Dr. Steve Allen retired after 13 years in the position. He is succeeded by Tim Robinson, former executive vice president and chief financial administrative officer at Nationwide Children’s. In Allen’s honor, Nationwide Children’s established the Allen Distinguished Scholar in Pediatric Research, which will recognize a Nationwide Children’s researcher who shares the hospital’s vision: to improve children’s lives.
Additionally, for her 25 years of work on the Nationwide Children’s board of directors, the hospital is dedicating the Abigail Wexner Research Institute. Wexner served as board chair from 2005 to 2012 and oversaw the largest expansion in the hospital’s history. Wexner will continue to serve on the board.
Both long-time New Albany residents, Allen and Wexner have been a part of Nationwide Children’s during a period of unbelievable growth. The hospital saw 711,000 patients in 2006, and now sees more than 1.5 million each year. It has received a 51 percent increase in National Institutes of Health research funding, bringing the total to more than $81 million. In 2012, U.S. News and World Report named Nationwide Children’s one of the top 10 children’s hospitals in the nation for the first time, and the hospital has maintained its status on the list ever since.
Both the rededication and the scholar recognition took place May 21, a fitting send-off for Allen and recognition for Wexner, as their careers were invariably tied to one another. In fact, Wexner was integral in recruiting Allen to Columbus.
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Dr. Steve Allen’s Legacy
Dr. Steve Allen received his undergraduate degree from Rice University and medical degree from the University of Texas Medical Branch. He spent 24 years as a physician, scientist, teacher and executive at the Texas Medical Center. So, in addition to Wexner’s recruitment, what brought him to Columbus from his home state?
“Columbus Children’s Hospital, as it was then known, had an aspiration to become an elite academic medical center and wanted to make a difference in the world,” says Allen. “Every decision was made by first asking the question, ‘What is in the best interest of patients and their families?’”
When Allen took the job, Nationwide Children’s had only just announced its plans to build the Research Building III and new, 12-story main hospital; the largest pediatric center expansion not just in Nationwide Children’s history, but in the country. His first goal, he says, was to shepherd the project in and build a team to uphold the hospital’s vision. From there, the list of successes only grew.
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Dr. Jerry Mendell and the child honoree
“Every accomplishment in my time here has been a team accomplishment,” he says. “I am proud to have been involved, but the staff and employees of Nationwide Children’s are the reasons why we have accomplished so much.”
As for the Allen Distinguished Scholar in Pediatric Research, Allen is excited to see how it will encourage and support researchers.
“I am honored that the hospital chose to name this award after me,” says Allen, “but its real significance is in the way it will help extend the work of our researchers.”
Allen’s time as CEO at Nationwide Children’s may be over, but his legacy continues to impact Columbus. He takes one last opportunity to thank the community and the person who brought him here.
“Nationwide Children’s is Nationwide Children’s because of Abigail Wexner. … The aspirations that I heard when I first came here in 2006 were Abigail’s aspirations,” Allen says. “I think Nationwide Children’s could only have arisen in Columbus. Central Ohio has a cooperative, collaborative spirit of pulling together.”
Abigail Wexner’s Passion
Abigail Wexner’s name is well-known around the state, and particularly in Columbus, for good reason. She has served on the boards of L Brands, Inc., Harvard University’s Center for Public Leadership, The Ohio State University, Pelotonia, the Columbus Partnership and the Columbus Downtown Development Corporation, to name just a few. She also founded the Center for Family Safety and Healing.
Plus, with more than 25 years on the Nationwide Children’s board of directors, Wexner has seen many of the hospital’s dramatic changes, including the name change in 2006 to honor a $50 million gift from the Nationwide Foundation.
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Wexner was with the hospital in 1994 when Partners for Kids was founded, an organization that, with the partnership of more than 1,000 doctors, provides quality care at a lower cost to families that need it. She was on the board of directors during Nationwide Children’s first lung transplant in 2005, and more recently, she saw the groundbreaking for the new Big Lots Behavioral Health Pavilion in 2017 following a $50 million gift from the Big Lots Foundation.
Those who are familiar with Wexner know that she isn’t done yet, and the dedication of the Abigail Wexner Research Institute is just one way to honor her hard work.
“It’s such a humbling experience. I love this place, I’ve spent 25 years hopefully working toward making it the best that it can be,” says Wexner. “What that really means is staying true to that mission of taking care of kids and families in the best way we can, whether it’s groundbreaking research or behavioral health; a whole gamut of treating every child.”
After recruiting him to Columbus 13 years ago, it’s no coincidence that Wexner is being recognized alongside Allen.
“I would say that is probably the most important thing I could have done in my role on the board,” says Wexner. “He has put together a team that has literally transformed (Nationwide Children’s).”
The Inaugural Allen Distinguished Scholar in Pediatric Research
Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s own neurologist, Dr. Jerry Mendell, has worked for nearly five decades to help treat neuromuscular diseases in children, earning him the title of the first-ever Allen Distinguished Scholar in Pediatric Research. He was granted $100,000 to continue his research as part of the recognition.
Mendell has dedicated his entire professional career to the muscle disorders, and has been acknowledged in the past for it – deservedly so. Notably, the Muscular Dystrophy Association awarded him the S. Mouchly Small Scientific Achievement Award in 2004, recognizing contributions to neuromuscular disease research.
Additionally, Mendell made history in 2017 as part of a team that conducted a gene replacement therapy clinical trial in patients with spinal muscular atrophy type 1. Most SMA1 patients don’t live to see age 2. After 20 months, when the trial concluded, all 15 patients who received the gene replacement therapy were alive with no negative events, 11 of which could feed orally and speak. Two of the patients could walk independently.
Amanda DePerro is a contributing editor. Additional reporting by Brand Loyalty Specialist Lydia Freudenberg. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
