Physicians and staff of the Children’s Heart Center, located at Children’s Hospital of New Jersey at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, were honored recently by the Gift of Life, Inc. of New Jersey, Rotary District 7470 for their dedication to “changing the world one little heart at a time.” Children’s Hospital of New Jersey, an affiliate of the Saint Barnabas Health Care System, and Gift of Life, Inc. of New Jersey have partnered for more than fifteen years to provide highly specialized cardiac care to infants and children from around the world.
“Our organizations share a vision to change the world,” said Brian Romanowsky, Director of Gift of Life for Rotary District 7470. “Our work to save children who would otherwise perish, could not succeed without the generosity, skill, and dedication of the doctors and staff who comprise the Children’s Heart Center.”
Led by Joel T. Hardin, MD, Medical Director of the Children’s Heart Center, and Joanne Starr, MD, Surgical Director of the Children’s Heart Center, the team offers premier care that is not available in their young patients’ native countries. In addition to bringing youngsters from around the world to New Jersey for care, the team has completed two medical missions to the Dominican Republic where they trained local physicians and nurses and continue to help establish a pediatric cardiac program at a hospital in Santiago. “There are thousands of children who could benefit from the kind of specialized care we take for granted in the United States,” said Dr. Starr.
Most recently, the Children’s Heart Center team successfully conducted the first phase of a multistage cardiac reconstruction in a 7-month-old Iraqi infant who was born with a complex variant of tetralogy of Fallott. Concerned about his chronic cough and breathing difficulties, Karrar’s mother brought him to a U.S. military base south of Baghdad where doctors there made a preliminary diagnosis and began a chain of communications that resulted in the international humanitarian mission. “Karrar has a good result after his initial surgery, although he will need additional transcatheter and surgical interventions in the coming months,” said Dr. Hardin, who is a veteran of the Iraq war.
The Children’s Heart Center consists of nationally and internationally respected pediatric cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons, as well as experienced cardiac intensivists, cardiothoracic anesthesiologists, clinical nurse specialists, social workers and child life specialists. The entire team is based at the Children’s Heart Center and is available 24 hours a day. The coordinated pediatric transport service brings critically ill children from across the state to Children’s Hospital for the most sophisticated care.
DATE: March 17, 2008
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