171 Ashley Ave.
Charleston, SC 29425
843-792-1414
800-424-MUSC
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November 2006
This edition:
Letter From Our Chair
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L. Lyndon Key, MD
Professor and Chairman
Department of Pediatrics |
Dear faculty, Children's Hospital staff and other friends,
Imperative to any community-based, nonprofit organization is a strong philanthropic funding stream. Even more importantly is to ensure
that the funds raised are managed through stewardship and focus on areas where the funds prove successful for an organization and the individuals served.
At MUSC Children's Hospital, this very important task is given to the Children's Hospital Fund (CHF), originally established by Dr.
Charles P. Darby as the Children's Fund. CHF provides the support and management to our generous donors and the funds they raise.
Prior to 2001 most of the money raised was used to recruit and support new hires needed in the children's hospital, support research
programs, and departments such as social work and child life. These type of support continues on today, however over the years, new and
exciting opportunities presented themselves and the scope of CHF's efforts changed.
[read more]
Feature Story
Grants help care-givers better serve the Hispanic community
MUSC's College of Nursing is on the forefront when it comes to knocking down challenges health care professionals face in caring
for Charleston's growing Hispanic population.
Deborah Williamson, DHA, associate dean of practice, and Charlene Pope, PhD, assistant professor, have received a two-year grant from
the Duke Endowment to fund the Hispanic Health Initiative. Dr. Williamson had also been awarded an additional, five-year Health Resouces and
Services Administration grant (with Sheila Smith, PhD, RN, as co-investigator). The two grants total more than $2 million.
The Hispanic Health Initiative has four goals: it aims to improve access to quality healthcare for Hispanic women and their families;
develop cultural competence in the nursing workforce; increase recruitment and retention of Hispanic nursing students and faculty; and
promote health policy that supports the Hispanic community.
[read more]
Message From Our Medical Director
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J. Philip Saul, MD
Medical Director
Director, Pediatric Cardiology |
This time of the year, early fall, is often a little quieter in the Children's Hospital. Elective summer procedures are done, and the
onslaught of winter's infectious disease season hasn't quite begun. The weather is still warm, the grass green and all the trees still
have their leaves. So it is hard to think about our winter season being just around the corner. Yet, the season is now approaching fast.
Flu shots are being offered, the emergency room is getting busier and our beds more full, reminding us of the need for expansion.
Planning is currently ongoing for adding another patient bed unit. Our adult colleagues in the heart and vascular center will be moving
to their new facility in late spring 2007, vacating up to 100 beds in the main hospital. This gives us the opportunity to both expand our
bed capacity and provide some flexibility for reconstruction and refurbishing of our current inpatient units. Further, we are moving along
with plans for a brand new Neonatal ICU which will consolidate all our Level 2 and 3 beds in a single location on the 6th floor. All of
these activities are exciting, but also stressful due to the added work of detailed planning which must be accomplished. Kudos to all our
faculty and staff for their active participation, which I know will lead to a brighter future for the Children's Hospital and its patients.
Update From Our Administrator
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John Sanders, MHA
Administrator
MUSC Children's Hospital |
New Leadership in the Children's Hospital
After conducting a national search for a director of perinatal services, I am very happy to announce that Vicki von Ehrenfried has joined
our leadership team. Vicki comes to Charleston after serving as the director of Women's Services at Northeast Baptist Hospital in San
Antonio, Texas. Vicki has a unique background with experience in obstetrics as well as pediatrics in level III nurseries. Her responsibilities
will be to direct the operations of all obstetrical services and nurseries.
Also joining our leadership team is Beth Thelan, manager of 7B, our hematology and oncology inpatient unit. Most recently, Beth was a clinical
instructor in Aiken at the University of South Carolina. She has prior management and clinical experience with pediatric hematology and oncology
services. We are very excited to have Beth with us, and we're certain she'll take us to another level in providing care to a very special group of children.
We want the very best staff to work at MUSC Children's Hospital because our kids deserve the best. Vicki and Beth are two examples of the energetic
team we have in the Children's Hospital. The passion shown by our management team, staff and physicians is electric and I only see bright things for
our organization going forward.
Darby Children's Research Institute News
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Bernard L. Maria, MD, MBA
Executive Director
Darby Children's
Research Inst. |
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Inderjit Singh, PhD
Scientific Director
Darby Children's
Research Inst. |
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DCRI Adds New Researcher with Expertise in Polycystic Kidney Disease
Excited about the Charles P. Darby Children's Research Institute's commitment to basic research, scientist Dr. Darwin Bell recently relocated
from the University of Alabama at Birmingham to set up his lab in the DCRI.
"I had visited the DCRI at Dr. David Ploth's urging, and felt really excited about what's going on, about the emphasis on growth and new research,"
says Dr. Bell, a pediatric nephrologist. "It really appealed to me to become part of what I see as a medical school on the rise."
Dr. Bell's lab in the DCRI focuses on polycystic kidney disease (PKD), the most common genetic, life-threatening disease. It affects more than 600,000 Americans.
"It's a very prevalent disease which results in kidney failure," explains Dr. Bell.
[read more]
Evidence-Based Tip
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Laura Cousineau, MLS
MUSC Library
Dept. of Pediatrics EBM Faculty |
Understanding the Numbers: How to Interpret Statistics in a Study
Authors of studies can measure their results in several ways. To know whether or not the results are important enough to either change or reinforce
our current standard of care, we need to be able to understand those numbers. In a therapy question, those numbers should be able to tell us how
large the treatment effect was, and how precise the effect was.
[read more]
A special thanks to the following individuals for their efforts in putting together Kids Connection each month.
Editor: Bernard L. Maria, MD, MBA
Publisher: Jennifer Cherock (Trio Solutions Inc.) and Jessica Munday (Trio Solutions Inc.)
Web design: Brian Dadin (Trio Solutions Inc.)
Feature Writer: Mary Sue Lawrence, Trio Solutions Inc
Contributing Writers:
Lyndon Key,
Bernard Maria,
John Sanders,
Inderjit Singh,
Laura Cousineau
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