Blair and Melissa Pogue
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To Children's Medical CenterPogue Family multi-generational support continues at Children's Medical Center Dallas
Philanthropy drives family involvement with top pediatric hospital
One person can influence the health of a child, a community or even mankind. You could be the one. And the Pogue Family is. Children’s Medical Center Dallas has received both financial and personal time commitments from the Pogue’s - through several generations. Most recently, Children’s received a $5 million gift from The Pogue Family Foundation that will be used to assist in the renovation and expansion of the Pulmonary Function Laboratory and to support the recruitment of nationally acclaimed pediatric specialists and sub-specialists to Dallas.
“Our family believes strongly in the work that is being done at Children’s,” said Blair Pogue, whose family foundation committed $5,000,000 to Children’s in 2006. “Children’s is leading the charge with cutting-edge research capabilities, world class technology and therapies. Couples with excellent physicians, our family is honored to fun the life-saving work done there.”
Diseases of the lung and other breathing problems are the leading causes of death in children under the age of one. In North Texas alone, pediatric pulmonary diseases result in more than 3,000 inpatient hospitalizations at Children’s, 6,000 emergency department visits and thousands more outpatient visits each year for conditions ranging from chronic lung disease of pre-maturity to asthma to cystic fibrosis and sleep disorders.
The newly expanded Pulmonary Function Laboratory will allow doctors to run Pulmonary Function Tests (PFTs), which are a series of breathing tests designed to assess how a patient’s lungs are working. They help to diagnose lung problems such as asthma, and determine how severely the lungs are affected. They also provide critical information that doctors use to develop treatment plans and to evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment.
“The Pogue Family Foundation gift will help Children’s ascend into the ranks of the premier pediatric pulmonolgy programs in the country” said Christopher J. Durovich, president and CEO of Children’s. “We are so thankful for their ongoing support of the advanced clinical research and clinical care that happen daily at our hospital.”
Children’s has received both financial and personal time commitments from the Pogue’s - through several generations. In 2000, Jean and Mack Pogue founded the Pogue Family Foundation and in 2001, the Foundation donated $3 million to create the Pogue Pediatric Cardiac Catheterization Lab at Children’s. The family foundation’s most recent gift will be used to assist in the renovation and expansion of Children’s Pulmonary Function Laboratory and to support the recruitment of nationally acclaimed pediatric specialists and sub specialists to Dallas.
Much like Mack and Jean, Melissa and Blair Pogue took an interest in the programs at Children’s and have been supporting the hospital since 2003. Their commitments include gifts to support Children’s At Risk CHildren (ARCH) Center and cardiology construction, and leadership in The Children’s Trust, an organization that seeks to develop future philanthropic leaders for Children’s through educational, social, and philanthropic activities for couples and individuals with a strong interest in children’s health issues.
“We know our family’s support makes a big difference in the lives of patients at Children’s and we hope that we can lead by example and encourage future generations to continue this legacy of philanthropy,” said Pogue. “Melissa and I feel blessed that we have not had to utilize the services offered at Children’s, but many of our friends and colleagues have, and knowing that such an incredible resource as Children’s is available, helps ease all of our minds. As our children continue to grow, Children’s too is expanding to meet the needs of the most important population, our kids.”
In 2006, Melissa and Blair served as Philanthropy Chairs of The Children’s Trust and led the group in its selection of a project to fund at the hospital. They helped the group meet their project goals, but also recognized that personally they could do more. They decided to fund one of the additional options, a digital body plethysmography, used to diagnose and follow the lung health of children with disorders such as asthma, Cystic Fibrosis (CF), and chronic pneumonia that was offered, but not selected by The Children’s Trust.