Spring 2008 - Arkansas Children's Hospital

DONORSClark Family FoundationGives from, and to, the HeartDave and Donna Clark■ Kila OwensFor 25 years, Dave Clark has had a soft spot for children – especiallylocal children in need.That is why, in 1985, Clark, who was just visiting the state, called in a$75,000 pledge to the annual Children’s Miracle Network telethon.“I was preparing to move my business here and, in fact, had justbought a horse farm in Perry County,” says Clark. “I was ready to moveto Arkansas permanently, and I just felt like I ought to support the kidswho needed help locally.”After a tour of the hospital, during which he saw first-hand the impactof heart problems on children, Clark decided to do more. During the1986 telethon, he made a $1 million endowment gift, issued as a challengeto telethon viewers. The money was not only given by Clark, whothen served as president of Interstate Airlines of Little Rock, but also hisemployees.Clark’s $1 million gift, which was earmarked for cardiovascular services,was the largest single endowment gift ever given to ArkansasChildren’s Hospital. Clark’s endowment is a gift that keeps on giving,even 24 years later. The gift itself is invested, and earnings are used toenhance programs and services for children.In 1989, Clark joined the Arkansas Children’s Hospital board of directors.He remained on the board for seven years, leaving in 1996 when heretired and moved to Naples, Fla. He continued his support of ACH,and in 2003, moved back to Little Rock. Clark’s move was one of manyexciting changes in his life that year – he also married his wife, Donna.In 2007, Donna and Dave created the Clark Family Foundation, acharitable foundation they will use to help those who cannot help themselves– children.“We have been giving personally for a number of years, and we wantedto do more,” says Dave Clark. “I was going through my estate plans, andI felt all my heirs were being taken care of properly, so we formed thefoundation.”One of the first gifts the foundation gave was $1 million to kickoff funding for the renovation and re-equipping of the cardiac catheterizationlab at ACH.According to Dr. Paul Seib*, medical director of the ACH cath lab,the project will cost $5.5 million and will completely update the twocatheterization rooms.“The two rooms in the lab are used as diagnostic and therapeutic toolsfor newborns, children and young adults with congenital and acquiredheart disease,” says Seib. “The two rooms are currently 11 years old, andin those 11 years, numerous technology advances have been made.”The two cath rooms will be updated with completely new equipmentand technology, including the addition of PACS (picture archiving andcommunication system), which is a computer network dedicated to thestorage, retrieval, distribution and presentation of x-ray images. PACSnot only allows instant access to images by multiple physicians simultaneously,but also benefits the patients because they endure fewer x-rays,which means less radiation.“This gift from the Clark Family Foundation is a great start to ourfunding of the renovation of the cath labs,” says Dr. Jonathan Bates,president and CEO of ACH. “These two rooms will have brand newequipment and high performance imaging technology to make thingsbetter and safer for our patients. Donna and Dave understand how muchmore we can do for our children. They are terrific partners.”The Clarks are excited that their gift will help improve things for theheart patients at ACH. They consider themselves lucky because none oftheir grandchildren or great-grandchildren have been treated at ACH.“That is something we have talked about,” says Donna Clark. “Wehave younger grandchildren, and I have always said to Dave, ‘Just imagineif one of them has a serious illness.’ Thankfully, Arkansas Children’sHospital in Little Rock is a first-class institution.”*Paul Seib, M.D., is medical director of the ACH cardiac catheterizationlab and associate professor of pediatrics, section of pediatric cardiology,UAMS College of Medicine.10