Riley Hospital For Children Sets $175M Fundraising Goal

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A $175 million fundraising drive is underway to help boost Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis.

Leaders of the Riley Children's Foundation say it has already raised more than $120 million toward the goal they hope to reach by 2020.

The money would go toward pediatric research, patient care, maternity and newborn health, and family support programs. It's the foundation's first capital campaign since 2010, when it raised $200 million.

Riley says it's looking to lower Indiana's high infant-mortality rate by hiring more maternal fetal medicine specialists, who treat high-risk pregnancies and can diagnose problems early. Riley now has 10 such specialists, who handled more than 11,000 patient visits last year.

Hospital president Matthew Cook says one of Indiana's problems is that such high-risk pregnancies have gone unidentified.