The Children’s Hospitals Graduate Medical Education (CHGME) program provides 55 freestanding children’s hospitals in 30 states with critically important federal support to train the next generation of general pediatricians and pediatric subspecialists. CHGME funds are responsible for training more than 40 percent of general pediatricians and 43 percent of all pediatric subspecialists, who provide access to care for our sickest and most vulnerable children. The President’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 budget request proposes eliminating CHGME altogether. With the increasing number of children with chronic conditions, the demand for timely access to necessary, high-quality specialty care is on the rise. Our current supply of pediatric subspecialists is already inadequate to meet the health needs of these vulnerable children, and any reduction or elimination of CHGME funding will severely threaten the already fragile access to care for these children. CHGME is a small program in terms of the dollar amount in the discretionary fiscal year budget, but it is one of the most important investments in strengthening children’s health care. We strongly oppose the elimination or reduction of CHGME funding, and urge Congress to reinstate CHGME funding immediately to avoid crippling the access to care for our sickest and most vulnerable children.

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