Inside Pediatrics Spring 2015

Welcome to the premier issue of Inside Pediatrics magazine. Our goal is to share with you the remarkable work that is happening here at Children’s of Alabama, the state’s only freestanding pediatric hospital. We’ve been taking care of kids since 1911. Last year, families from every county in Alabama, 42 other states and 10 foreign countries came through our doors, representing more than 653,000 outpatient visits and nearly 14,000 inpatient admissions. We’ve grown from a modest 11-bed hospital housed in a Birmingham residence to a 332-bed facility that’s the third largest in the United States. But our mission has never wavered: to provide the finest pediatric health services to all children in an environment that fosters excellence in research and medical education, to be an advocate for all children and to work to educate the public about issues affecting children’s health. Within these pages you’ll meet some of the brightest minds and boldest sub-specialists in our field and learn more about the innovative programs they’re bringing to pediatric health care. Physicians like pediatric rheumatologist Randy Cron, M.D., Ph.D, and hematologist-oncologist Smita Bhatia, M.D., M.P.H. Cron’s seven-year-old program is already the largest in the Southeast and, more importantly, is making life-changing progress in treating juvenile idiopathic arthritis and aggressively

tackling TMJ arthritis in those patients. Bhatia is an internationally renowned leader in cancer survivorship research who came to Children’s from City of Hope to establish a comprehensive program for cancer outcomes and survivorship research to complement our existing clinical survivorship program. These doctors and others represent the powerful partnership we enjoy with our colleagues at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. You may already know many of the other physicians we’ll be spotlighting or have heard their names. We hope Inside Pediatrics will serve as a valuable connection to them as we join you in a united effort to improve the health and well-being of children everywhere. Enjoy this first issue and let us know what you think.

Mike Warren CEO and President Children’s of Alabama

Children’s of Alabama is the only freestanding pediatric hospital in the state and home to some of the Southeast’s premier pediatric health care programs. Children’s offers inpatient and outpatient services across its Russell Campus on Birmingham’s historic Southside with additional specialty services provided throughout the metro area and in Huntsville and Montgomery. Primary care is provided at more than a dozen medical offices in communities across central Alabama. Many of the programs and services offered at Children’s are unique in Alabama and include the state’s only pediatric burn center, dedicated pediatric bone marrow transplant facility, ECMO service, pediatric kidney dialysis service and the only pediatric cleft and craniofacial center. And Children’s leadership in child health goes beyond state lines with one of the Southeast’s largest pediatric cardiovascular programs, one of the nation’s largest pediatric rheumatology programs and the only accredited pediatric epilepsy monitoring unit in the United States. It is consistently ranked among the best pediatric medical centers in the nation by U.S. News & World Report . Children’s is a private, not-for-profit hospital that serves as the primary site of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) pediatric medicine, surgery, psychiatry, research and residency programs. This dynamic relationship ensures world-class care and cutting edge therapies across all sub-specialties.

Children’s of Alabama 1600 7th Ave. S. Birmingham, Alabama 35233 (205) 638-9100 www.childrensal.org For questions, more information or to share your feedback, please email us at insidepediatrics@childrensal.org . An online version of the magazine is available at www.childrensal.org/insidepediatrics . Inside Pediatrics President and CEO...................Mike Warren Chief Communications Officer............................... Garland Stansell Editor..................................... Kathy Bowers Design.....................................Trent Graves Photography...........................Denise McGill Digital Content........................... Amy Dabbs Contributors............................. Andre Green Adam Kelley John Tracy Tina Wilson Physician Marketing........ Tiffany Kaczorowski facebook.com/childrenshospitalofalabama linkedin.com/company/children’s-of-alabama twitter.com/ChildrensAL Instagram.com/childrensofal

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