Children’s Mercy set out to be a leader in cancer research. Does it risk losing elite status?

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Children’s Mercy Hospital has lost momentum in its push to become a key player in the fight against pediatric cancer, eliciting concern from major donors and a chief research partner, The Star has learned.

The hospital’s most generous single benefactor, the Hall Family Foundation, expressed its unease about the program’s direction by suspending donations recently when the hospital’s CEO fired the founding executive director of the Children’s Mercy Research Institute and announced plans to reassess its model and structure.

After those millions in donations were temporarily frozen, the hospital CEO who initiated that firing then announced his own retirement.

The moves came as the hospital risks losing its federal designation as a member of the area’s cancer center consortium because it has been slow to hire enough cancer researchers.

When Children’s Mercy founded its research institute nearly a decade ago, it sought to become a national leader in finding new cures and treatments for kids with rare conditions and hard-to-treat diseases. Beefing up research into childhood cancer — the second leading cause of death (behind accidents) for children ages 1 to 14 — was one of its key objectives.

The hospital raised hundreds of millions of dollars, brought in leading experts and made promises for expansion in service of that goal, working with the KU Cancer Center to gain the country’s most elite recognition for cancer research.

But now, after a stretch of internal disagreements and volatile leadership changes, Children’s Mercy’s status as a top cancer center — which according to KU gives doctors “greater access to cutting-edge treatments, leading to higher survival rates” — is on the line.

The former chairman of the hospital’s pediatrics department, retired cardiologist Michael Artman , says Children’s Mercy’s research mission is essential.

“The driving force behind all of this was that’s how we change pediatric medicine is through research,” said Artman, who helped get the institute up and running before stepping aside four years ago.

“We can have the very best clinical care, but if we’re not moving that clinical care forward, if we’re not continually pushing to find ways to treat better and diagnose quicker and prevent disease and cure diseases, we’re going to look back and say, wow, that was a missed opportunity.”

Current hospital officials say they are working hard to retain their cancer-center designation and remain committed to research at Children Mercy.

“We are continuing on with the game plan,” said J. Steven Leeder, interim executive director of the research institute.

‘The very best’

The need for research in pediatric medicine is great. Because children are not merely small adults, treatment methods don’t always translate. Yet historically, “pediatric drug and device development continues to lag behind programs addressing adult conditions,” according to the journal Pediatric Research .

Kansas City’s philanthropic community set out to address these disparities by bolstering existing and future research efforts at Children’s Mercy.

Their first move was to hire Tom Curran as the research institute’s top administrator and visionary in the summer of 2015. The Hall family, one of the hospital’s biggest donors, paid for his position and named it after Hallmark chairman emeritus Donald Hall Sr. — the Donald J. Hall Eminent Scholar in Pediatric Research.

A pioneer in the treatment of children with brain cancer, Curran came with a stacked resume and was highly recommended by, among others, Dr. Roy Jensen, head of the KU Cancer Center.

“I’m not interested in making Children’s Mercy the second-best or the third-best hospital research environment,” Curran told The Star during his first week on the job in early 2016. “I want it to be the very best because I think we owe that to our patients. We owe them the latest science and technology.”

A year after Curran started work, several local foundations and individual donors pledged $10 million to hire four “rockstar” researchers with ongoing lab projects and staffs studying various aspects of pediatric cancer.

The researchers would be on the hospital and research institute staffs, while also having staff professorships at the University of Kansas. The idea was to forge an even stronger partnership with Children’s Mercy as KU’s go-to hospital for pediatric care.

The promise that Children’s Mercy would eventually fill those positions helped burnish the KU Cancer Center consortium’s national status.

So did the grand opening of the research institute’s new building in 2021, which was largely funded by $150 million in donations from the Hall Family Foundation and the Sunderland Foundation.

That next year, the regional cancer center was upgraded from a federally designated cancer center, of which there are 72, to one of the nation’s 57 “comprehensive cancer centers.”

That qualified the consortium for more federal money and greater access to the most advanced clinical drug trials.

“Children’s Mercy and The University of Kansas Cancer Center are part of a unique collaboration to transform pediatric oncology and make Kansas City a global hub of pediatric research innovation,” the hospital announced at the time.

Children’s Mercy’s focus on pediatric cancer was crucial in gaining that status because the KU Cancer Center could say it runs the gamut serving children to adults with its research.

Not enough researchers

But in the years since, Children’s Mercy failed to reach its hiring goals and does not have enough cancer researchers on staff nor federal cancer research grant money coming in to maintain that status and be recertified under new federal guidelines.

The research institute has five top cancer researchers when it needs at least 10 to be recertified in 2027, and it has less than 18 months to meet that threshold in time to file the paperwork.

And while the institute takes in more than $40 million a year in federal research money, it doesn’t meet the minimum $2.5 million in federal grants for dedicated cancer research.

“We are working really hard with them to get over those two hoops, but it’s going to be difficult and everybody recognizes that,” Jensen said.

“And of course, the difficulty is now compounded by the fact that there’s no permanent CEO for Children’s Mercy and there’s no permanent CEO for the Children’s Mercy Research Institute.”

That will make hiring top cancer researchers tough in such a tight timeframe.

“It’s always a difficult recruitment when you can’t state with certainty that you know who somebody’s boss is going to be,” Jensen said.

If Children’s Mercy loses its designation as a member of the cancer center consortium, the hospital would still have access to the latest drug trials through an organization called the Children’s Oncology Group, Leeder said.

“We provided care and participated in clinical trials to children with cancer before the cancer center received its formal designation, and that will continue,” he said.

But it would be a blow to marketing efforts, the hospital would not be eligible for some research grants only available to the most elite cancer centers, and it could hurt Children’s Mercy’s future efforts to recruit top researchers.

Those scientists want access to the best facilities and the ability to collaborate with other top researchers in their field, which is what the NCI cancer center brand promises, according to the National Cancer Institute.

What, if any, immediate impact it would have on patient care is unclear, as Children’s Mercy would still remain affiliated with the KU Cancer Center. But Children’s Mercy would rather not find out and continues working hard to recertify, Leeder said.

“We are addressing that primarily right now through recruitment and providing an environment where our own existing researchers can be successful,” he said.

Disagreements over research

The hospital and its research institute would be in a much better position today to retain its top cancer center status had it filled those four principal investigator positions subsidized by the $10 million endowment.

Along with their research labs, those scientists would have almost certainly brought along with them federal grant money sufficient to meet the required minimum.

Some donors, former staffers and officials at partner institutions privately put the blame for all four positions remaining vacant for seven years on Children’s Mercy CEO Paul Kempinski, who they said didn’t like the conditions placed on the endowments agreed to by his predecessor, longtime CEO Randall O’Donnell.

They also say Kempinski was more intent on improving the hospital’s bottom line than on its research goals when he took over at the end of 2018.

While the hospital gave no reason for Curran’s departure and he has made no public comments about it, Curran has told close associates that he and Kempinski had several differences. The refusal to move forward with those hirings was just one of them.

The two also disagreed about Kempinski’s plan to use research institute space meant for labs as offices for hospital administrators, which was abandoned after donors disapproved, according to several sources with knowledge of the discussions.

But what ultimately led to his firing, Curran has told multiple associates who spoke to The Star, is when Kempinski allegedly ordered top subordinates to sign a document in support of his program initiatives when his five-year contract was up for renewal last fall. The Star talked to one source who received that order and others who knew about it.

Those who didn’t sign would allegedly be forced out. Curran complained to the hospital board about this, according to a source at that meeting. Soon after, he was fired.

After Curran’s departure, Kempinski announced that Curran’s duties would be split in two while the organization consulted with outside experts “to assess our current model and structure and make recommendations for the future.”

No sooner had Curran’s interim replacement Robert Lane settled in, then he, too, was fired in April.

In an open letter addressed to “colleagues” that was obtained by The Star, Kempinski said Lane was let go after making “inappropriate statements” that violated hospital policies. The letter did not elaborate.

Like Curran, Lane, who was also the hospital’s physician in chief and an executive vice president, was marched out the door by hospital security. Both declined comment on the advice of their attorneys.

Philanthropy put on hold

Children’s Mercy Hospital is one of Kansas City’s most beloved institutions, founded with one rented bed in 1897 by two sisters who called it the Free Bed Fund Association of Sick, Crippled, Deformed and Ruptured Children .

Later renamed Mercy Hospital and then Children’s Mercy, it has retained its independence as a nonprofit hospital depending on government grants, insurance payments and the benevolence of donors.

Most notably, big-name celebrities who grew up in the Kansas City area such as movie actor Paul Rudd, “Ted Lasso” star Jason Sudekis and comedian Heidi Gardner from Saturday Night Live stage a charity event each June to benefit the hospital. Over the past 15 years, the Big Slick weekend has raised $21 million for Children’s Mercy.

With far less flash and fanfare, local philanthropists have contributed far more over the decades. Among the most prominent is the family that owns Hallmark Cards, whose headquarters is across the street from Children’s Mercy, 2401 Gillham Road.

Troubled by Curran’s firing, the Hall Family Foundation suspended its financial support of Children’s Mercy temporarily early this year.

“As we do with all our partners, we have the right to pause payments to gain clarity and shared understanding, toward ensuring the spirit of our grant’s original intent will remain,” foundation president Mayra Aguirre wrote in a statement to The Star. “In this case, we opted to exercise that right.”

While the Hall Family Foundation told The Star that it did not seek Kempinski’s ouster, other donors lobbied hospital board members for his removal, citing what they saw as his lack of understanding or commitment to the importance of the research mission at Children’s Mercy, according to sources with knowledge of those discussions.

Despite the pause in payments, the Hall Family Foundation has not revoked any donations it has already made and is ahead of schedule on its initial $75 million pledge for construction of the research institute’s building, according to Aguirre.

‘Distracting and distressing undercurrents’

After Curran wrote to the board with his criticism of Kempinski’s leadership, the hospital’s board of directors conducted an internal review last winter and spring.

After it concluded, Kempinski, 64, announced that he would retire from a job that paid him $1.6 million a year, according to the hospital’s most recent publicly available tax return.

Children’s Mercy officials declined to discuss the Hall Family Foundation’s decision to suspend funding or any of the events leading up to Kempkinski’s retirement announcement.

Despite the board’s decision to keep Kempinski on until they hire a new CEO, some donors want him to leave now, according to two sources with direct knowledge of those discussions.

While he is not among those pressuring the board to push Kempinski out the door sooner rather than later, David Westbrook understands what’s driving that sentiment. A former Children’s Mercy executive who several years ago pledged $1 million to the hospital’s ophthalmology program, Westbrook says the lack of a clean break is harming the institution.

“There are some decisions that have been made at the hospital that are creating some distracting and distressing undercurrents,” he said. “It’s a very serious matter, and if it festers it can have an enduring negative impact.”

Children’s Mercy general counsel Robin Foster said the hospital board felt it was important to keep Kempinski on the job until his replacement is hired “to ensure continuity of operations and the continued focus on our strategic objectives and initiatives.”

The hospital did not make Kempinski or a member of the hospital board available for comment.

In a joint interview, Foster, the hospital’s top lawyer, and two other hospital executives praised Kempinski’s leadership and denied that Curran and Lane were fired due to any criticism they might have made about the CEO’s management style.

“We have a rich history that has gotten us to where we are, and Paul in the last six years has taken us to new heights, financially, stewardship, things of that nature that has really solidified this organization,” said chief human resources officer Tom Wright.

“And as we now look for the next CEO, he or she is now charged with taking us to the next level.”

Wright said the hospital has no plans to find a permanent replacement for Curran until a new CEO is picked. That person will make the choice.

Future of research

Leeder, Curran’s interim replacement as institute head, stressed that the hospital remains committed to cutting-edge research to help kids fight disease, from cancer to cystic fibrosis.

“Our research and enterprise is intended to apply the cutting edge technologies, whatever it takes to come up with the best possible management options for those kids,” he said

The Hall Family Foundation said it plans to continue its donations to Children’s Mercy once the organization feels comfortable.

“Regarding several changes in leadership, our commitment to and

confidence in CMH and the Research Institute remain strong,” the foundation said in a prepared statement. “This unwavering belief in the vital role of the Hospital and Research Institute, locally and nationally, is rooted not in any one individual, but in a shared vision.”