A local nonprofit has merged with a Missouri organization, acquired a new name and added a second U.S. office.
Richmond-based nonprofit International Hospital for Children joined with Healing the Children Missouri, a St. Louis nonprofit and will now be referred to as the World Pediatric Project.
“It was time to get a name that was better descriptive of what our organization did,” said Susan Rickman, president and CEO of the organization.
The name went into effect this week, but the change has been in the process for five years. And this is Richmond’s second recent consolidation in the nonprofit sector. CHIP of Greater Richmond, another children’s nonprofit, merged with Family Lifeline two months ago, creating an abuse-prevention and health services organization with 40 employees and a combined annual budget of $3.5 million.
International Hospital for Children, which was founded in 2001, treats children in other countries that can’t afford proper medical care.
The nonprofit hired the local marketing company Elevation last spring to help them redesign their brand and the name.
The 22-member committee decided on the name to help donors, patients and others involved to better identify with the organization.
“We wanted the top donors and doctors and nurses to understand why we are doing it,” said Rickman (pictured above).
The nonprofit has also added a second U.S. office in St. Louis. World also has two international offices in Belize and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
“It’s been part of our strategic plan to open up in other cities.”
Plans for the new office hatched six months ago, after Healing the Children Missouri, a nonprofit that provided medical care to children in the United States and abroad, reached out to the Richmond office.
“They were a small organization already bringing in some income but didn’t have the capacity to tap into the donor market,” Rickman said.
They are in the process of hiring one employee to add to the three that are already there. This will bring the organization’s total of U.S. employees to 18.
They pull doctors and nurses from across the United States, with 85 percent of the teams coming from Virginia, to provide cardiac care, orthopedic surgery, plastic reconstructive surgery and other services.
“We get with the medical community and see where their needs are,” Rickman said.
According to Rickman, most of the doctors and other medical professionals are trained to provide care for adults but are lacking the resources and staff to help children.
Out of the Richmond office, 30 teams will go out to the countries this year.
To date, the World Pediatric Project has helped 10,000 children with their critical care services, the organization said.
The organization works with a $1.8 million budget, and Rickman said she expects a significant increase with the addition of this new office.
“We’re looking at taking the organization to $4.9 million,” she said.
Plans to expand to Charlotte are set to occur in the next year, and a location in Birmingham, Ala., is on the agenda.
A local nonprofit has merged with a Missouri organization, acquired a new name and added a second U.S. office.
Richmond-based nonprofit International Hospital for Children joined with Healing the Children Missouri, a St. Louis nonprofit and will now be referred to as the World Pediatric Project.
“It was time to get a name that was better descriptive of what our organization did,” said Susan Rickman, president and CEO of the organization.
The name went into effect this week, but the change has been in the process for five years. And this is Richmond’s second recent consolidation in the nonprofit sector. CHIP of Greater Richmond, another children’s nonprofit, merged with Family Lifeline two months ago, creating an abuse-prevention and health services organization with 40 employees and a combined annual budget of $3.5 million.
International Hospital for Children, which was founded in 2001, treats children in other countries that can’t afford proper medical care.
The nonprofit hired the local marketing company Elevation last spring to help them redesign their brand and the name.
The 22-member committee decided on the name to help donors, patients and others involved to better identify with the organization.
“We wanted the top donors and doctors and nurses to understand why we are doing it,” said Rickman (pictured above).
The nonprofit has also added a second U.S. office in St. Louis. World also has two international offices in Belize and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
“It’s been part of our strategic plan to open up in other cities.”
Plans for the new office hatched six months ago, after Healing the Children Missouri, a nonprofit that provided medical care to children in the United States and abroad, reached out to the Richmond office.
“They were a small organization already bringing in some income but didn’t have the capacity to tap into the donor market,” Rickman said.
They are in the process of hiring one employee to add to the three that are already there. This will bring the organization’s total of U.S. employees to 18.
They pull doctors and nurses from across the United States, with 85 percent of the teams coming from Virginia, to provide cardiac care, orthopedic surgery, plastic reconstructive surgery and other services.
“We get with the medical community and see where their needs are,” Rickman said.
According to Rickman, most of the doctors and other medical professionals are trained to provide care for adults but are lacking the resources and staff to help children.
Out of the Richmond office, 30 teams will go out to the countries this year.
To date, the World Pediatric Project has helped 10,000 children with their critical care services, the organization said.
The organization works with a $1.8 million budget, and Rickman said she expects a significant increase with the addition of this new office.
“We’re looking at taking the organization to $4.9 million,” she said.
Plans to expand to Charlotte are set to occur in the next year, and a location in Birmingham, Ala., is on the agenda.