As we prepare for a new era in health care in the coming years …

As we prepare for a new era in health care in coming years, we look to the unique programs and partnerships that will continue our history of discovering new and better ways to care for children.  Over the years, our clinical, research and education programs have all experienced tremendous growth.  The ongoing success of these programs, however, derives from the combined efforts of community pediatricians, pediatric subspecialists and surgeons, investigators, teachers and staff dedicated to the common vision of improving the health and well-being of all children.

Collaboration and innovation have been the cornerstones of our culture for decades.

As we continue to expand our Children’s Hospital and develop new programs, we return to these core values.  We work together to build multidisciplinary programs of inpatient and outpatient care, to implement programs of discovery that link expertise from across departments and to create innovative teaching programs involving students from several disciplines. We want to serve as a place of unwavering hope for all children and their families – whether caring for common conditions like asthma or treating more significant diseases like cancer.

We come to work every day knowing that we have the best doctors, nurses and staff committed to excellence in care. We embrace the work of our physician-scientists who work diligently to develop new vaccines, to improve outcomes of prematurely born babies, and to help prevent obesity-related diseases. In all of these endeavors, we rely daily on unique partnerships.

The stories you will read showcase some of the unique relationships that bring hope to our children and families. In this issue you will learn of the only multispecialty clinic in the state of Tennessee that provides care for both mothers and their fetuses with congenital problems in a single clinic. You will learn why we remain a community children’s hospital as we share stories about our special relationship between our community pediatricians and Vanderbilt pediatric specialists. You will also learn how we approach some problems from both an injury prevention strategy as well as a provision of care approach if injury occurs.

We hope that you will enjoy these stories and continue to partner with us on our journey.  We are grateful for the support from our staff, our community, and of course, our patients and families.

Sincerely,

Luke Gregory
Chief executive officer

Meg Rush, M.D.
Acting chair, Department of Pediatrics and chief of staff

John W. Brock III, M.D.
Surgeon-in-chief, director of the Division of Pediatric Urology and Monroe Carell Jr. Chair