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Brian Levine, M.D., Named Chief Academic Officer and Intellectual Property Administrator featured image

Brian Levine, M.D., Named Chief Academic Officer and Intellectual Property Administrator

ChristianaCare announced Feb. 12 the promotion of Brian Levine, M.D., to chief academic officer, along with his appointment as intellectual property administrator. He will also continue in his role as designated institutional official. As chief academic officer and leader of ChristianaCare’s Department of Academic Affairs, Levine oversees 38 residency and fellowship programs encompassing 315 residents and fellows, along with the education and training of students across the continuum of medical education. He leads the continued growth and strengthening of ChristianaCare’s undergraduate and graduate medical education infrastructure, ensuring that ChristianaCare continues to prepare physicians to care for our community well into the future. In addition, Levine oversees physician assistant education and allied health educational programming, supporting workforce development and long-term community health needs. As the largest academic medical center between Philadelphia and Baltimore, ChristianaCare has been a hub of academic excellence for over a century. ChristianaCare is one of the largest community-based teaching hospital systems in the United States. ChristianaCare also serves as the Delaware Branch Campus for Sidney Kimmel Medical College and the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. This unique program allows medical students to complete their third and fourth years of clinical rotations exclusively at ChristianaCare, providing a clear pathway to launch their medical careers in Delaware. Each year, 55 students participate in the Branch Campus program, with many continuing into ChristianaCare’s highly sought-after residency programs and remaining in Delaware to serve local communities. ChristianaCare is a destination of choice for medical students and residents because of its strong patient-centered culture, reputation for excellence, and diversity of clinical experiences that include urban and suburban campuses with a wide range of pathologies. In his newly expanded role as intellectual property administrator, Levine manages and enforces ChristianaCare’s intellectual property policy, ensuring fair and consistent application in alignment with applicable laws and regulations. He also leads the multidisciplinary committee responsible for guiding organizational decisions related to intellectual property valuation, commercialization strategies and revenue distribution. Levine brings deep experience in academic medicine, health system education and scholarly publishing to these responsibilities. An emergency physician, he led the development of widely used clinical reference guides published by the Emergency Medicine Residents’ Association. These pocket-sized tools — covering topics such as antibiotic stewardship, orthopedic injury management, and EKG interpretation — are used by thousands of emergency medicine residents worldwide. Levine has held leadership roles at ChristianaCare for nearly two decades. Since 2018, he has served as associate chief academic officer and designated institutional official. Previously, he was program director of the Emergency Medicine Residency program from 2012 to 2018 and associate program director from 2006 to 2012. Levine is a clinical professor of Emergency Medicine at Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University and previously served as associate medical director for the LifeNet aeromedical transport program. He earned his medical degree from the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine and completed his emergency medicine residency at ChristianaCare.

Brian Levine, M.D. profile photo
2 min. read
Driving ambition featured image

Driving ambition

Motor vehicle crashes remain one of the leading causes of death among teenagers. For the youngest drivers, getting behind the wheel marks freedom but also comes with measurable risk. At the University of California, Irvine, Dr. Federico Vaca, professor and executive vice chair of emergency medicine, is determined to change that trajectory. “Driving licensure among our youngest drivers remains a major life milestone, and it allows for newfound freedom and opportunity for not only youth but their parents as well. At the same time, learning to drive and licensure come at a time when youth are rapidly moving through life with new transitions in school, with friends, and likely exposure to alcohol and drugs,” he says. “Our priority … is to examine the complexities of young driver behavior and to thoroughly understand crash injury risk and crash prevention among this special group of drivers.” Vaca’s work is at the intersection of health, transportation science and policy. A fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine and a researcher at UC Irvine’s Institute of Transportation Studies, he previously served as a medical fellow at the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in Washington, D.C. His long-standing goal is to prevent the injuries he has seen and treated in emergency departments and trauma centers through rigorous research, using the findings to inform and advance evidence-based programs and policies that save lives on the road. Innovating safety science UC Irvine is home to a new hub for understanding and preventing crash injuries among young drivers, the Brain, Body & Behavior Driving Simulation Lab, founded by Vaca and his interdisciplinary team. At the heart of the B3DrivSim Lab is a high-fidelity, half-cab driving simulator capable of replicating real-world conditions with precision. It uses advanced software to design customized driving scenarios – from complex roadway environments to the inclusion of such human elements as distraction and fatigue – all while capturing real-time video and driving behavior as well as vehicle control metrics. This integration of medicine, behavioral science and engineering enables researchers to measure how developmental and socioecological factors shape driver decisions in unique and consequential ways. The B3DrivSim Lab also represents a growing mentorship ecosystem at UC Irvine. In mid-June, the facility welcomed Siwei Hu, a postdoctoral scholar who earned a Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering, with a focus on transportation studies, at UC Irvine. Hu works closely with Vaca to combine engineering and modeling analytics with behavioral and crash risk insights. The half-cab driving simulator uses advanced software to replicate real-world conditions and design customized driving scenarios – from complex roadway environments to the inclusion of such human elements as distraction and fatigue – all while capturing real-time video and driving behavior as well as vehicle control metrics. Steve Zylius / UC Irvine From the lab to policy Beyond simulation, Vaca’s latest National Institutes of Health-funded study, separate from his lab’s work, takes this philosophy to the national level. His project, “Modeling a National Graduated-BAC Policy for 21- to 24-Year-Old Drivers,” explores whether lowering the legal blood alcohol limit for young adults could reduce alcohol-related crashes and deaths. “When you turn 21, at that very moment, the application of several alcohol-related prevention laws changes in the blink of an eye,” Vaca says. “Before that, the minimum legal drinking age and zero-tolerance laws are in place to protect young drivers from alcohol-impaired driving. Effectively, the second you turn 21, those prevention policies don’t apply, and you’re suddenly allowed to have a much higher blood alcohol concentration in your body that’s intimately tied to serious and fatal crash risk. It’s a very dangerous disconnect.” The study will use national crash data, behavioral surveys and system dynamics modeling to examine how a “graduated BAC policy” might bridge that gap, giving young adult drivers a safer transition into full legal responsibility and saving many more lives. Bridging science, education and prevention Earlier this year, Vaca and his B3DrivSim team joined prevention program educators, policymakers, engineers and law enforcement professionals in Anaheim at a Ford Driving Skills for Life event, part of a Ford Philanthropy-sponsored national effort teaching teens hands-on safe driving techniques – from hazard recognition to impaired-driving awareness. Speaking to more than 130 high school students and their parents from local and distant communities, Vaca emphasized the connection among driving, independence, opportunity and responsibility. That message aligns with his broader initiative, Youth Thriving in Life Transitions with Transportation, which introduces high school students to traffic safety and transportation science and their role in promoting health, education and employment in early adulthood. By linking research and real-world experience, the project empowers youth to see mobility as a foundation for opportunity with safety as its cornerstone. With overall young driver crash fatalities rising 25 percent nationally over the last decade and a 46 percent increase in fatal crashes where a young driver had a BAC of ≥ .01/dL, Vaca’s work represents a crucial step toward reversing that trend. Through a combination of clinical insight and prevention, transportation and data science underscored by community collaboration, he and his team are redefining how researchers and policymakers think about youth driver safety.

4 min. read
Delaware INBRE Summer Scholars Complete Biomedical Research Projects at ChristianaCare featured image

Delaware INBRE Summer Scholars Complete Biomedical Research Projects at ChristianaCare

Eight undergraduate scholars recently completed a 10-week immersion in biomedical research through the Delaware IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) Summer Scholars Program at ChristianaCare. Their projects, spanning oncology, emergency medicine and community health, culminated in a capstone presentation and celebration on August 13 at Christiana Hospital. This year’s cohort included students from University of Delaware, Delaware State University and Delaware Technical Community College, as well as Delaware residents attending college out of state. Each student was paired with expert mentors from across ChristianaCare, contributing to research designed to improve patient care and outcomes. In addition to their primary projects, the scholars explored ChristianaCare’s advanced facilities such as the Gene Editing Institute Learning Lab, gaining hands-on exposure to cutting-edge methods in biomedical research. “This year’s DE-INBRE program at ChristianaCare was a one-of-a-kind experience,” said Susan Smith, Ph.D., RN, program director of Technology Research & Education at ChristianaCare and the INBRE site principal investigator. “We brought together undergraduates from various academic backgrounds and immersed them in real, hands-on biomedical research with some of our most accomplished investigators. “Watching these students go from a little unsure on day one to confidently presenting their own findings by the end of the summer was inspiring, and proof that programs like this are building the next generation of biomedical researchers in Delaware.” Delaware INBRE is a statewide initiative funded by the National Institutes of Health to strengthen Delaware’s biomedical research infrastructure. It supports undergraduate research training, faculty development and core facility investments across partner institutions. At ChristianaCare, the program offers students immersive, hands-on research experiences guided by seasoned investigators, equipping them with the skills, mentorship and exposure essential for careers in science and medicine. Madeline Rowland, a Delaware resident and rising senior at Williams College in Massachusetts, collaborated with Hank Chen, senior medical physicist at the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center & Research Institute, to evaluate tattoo-free, surface-guided radiation therapy for breast cancer patients. She also worked with leaders of ChristianaCare’s Center for Virtual Health to explore how different patient populations experience virtual primary care. Rowland praised the program for the research skills and knowledge she gained as well as the meaningful relationships she built with mentors, health care professionals and fellow scholars she might not have otherwise met. “Dr. Chen and the whole Radiation team really adopted me into the department,” Rowland said. “From sitting on the CT simulation table in my first week to working on my project, I felt fully welcomed. I’ve learned so much, and the people I’ve met made this summer unforgettable.” Chen was recognized as the program’s inaugural “Mentor of the Summer” for his exceptional dedication and thoughtful approach to teaching. Having now mentored INBRE scholars for three years, Chen has a personal connection to the program. His own daughter participated as an undergraduate and recently began her general surgery residency after graduating from Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. For Chen, mentoring represents an investment in health care’s future. “The greatest asset of any institution is its talent,” he explained. “When you welcome students into your environment, you draw good people to your field, and patients ultimately benefit from that.” Naana Twusami, a rising senior at Delaware State University, spent her summer with the Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery and Hospital Dentistry Department. She examined social determinants of health in facial trauma patients, analyzing how factors like income, education, transportation and insurance status influence recovery. “Being here showed me that things like income or transportation can matter just as much as the medical care itself,” she said. “The INBRE Summer Scholars Program gave me a real look at how health care works, and how places like ChristianaCare are helping shape where it’s headed.” Amy Minsker, continuing medical education manager, Academic Affairs, served as manager of the summer scholars program. Read more on news.christianacare.org.

Susan Smith, Ph.D, RN profile photo
3 min. read
Empowering Recovery Through Lived Experience: The Impact of Peer Recovery Specialists at ChristianaCare Union Hospital featured image

Empowering Recovery Through Lived Experience: The Impact of Peer Recovery Specialists at ChristianaCare Union Hospital

“There was a guy standing at the end of my hospital bed that I didn’t know,” recalled Brandon Younce. “I’ll never forget this. He had a shirt on that said ‘Got Narcan.’ He introduced himself as Aaron from Voices of Hope. He said he was a peer recovery specialist, and he asked me, ‘Hey, man, are you ready to go to treatment?’” This encounter took place before the peer recovery specialist program at Voices of Hope formally partnered with ChristianaCare’s Union Hospital and the Cecil County Health Department in 2023 to grow the program into the robust offering it is today. For Younce, the program has meant not only a path to reaching and maintaining his own sobriety: It has also allowed him to become a specialist himself. And for the over 600 patients assisted through the program in fiscal year 2024, 440 of whom were connected to long-term recovery treatments, the program has meant receiving a chance at healing under the stewardship of peers who have themselves experienced addiction and recovery. Emily Granitto, M.D., of Emergency Medicine at Union Hospital, said that the process “works really seamlessly: We have a discussion with a patient and say ‘hey, we have someone available. Would you like to talk to peer recovery and see what we can do to help?’ Then a specialist comes, and they talk through the resources and options.” By having the specialist located in-hospital and ready with resources at the patient’s bedside, said Granitto, the chances for a patient’s successful transfer to long-term treatment are much higher than if the patient is expected to fend for themselves upon discharge. “We’re able to address their substance abuse concerns and tie it all into their visit here in the Emergency Department. That opportunity may not necessarily arise otherwise in the community — so offering it here and providing that olive branch can be a good bridge to the next step,” she said. The need for programs like these has never been more urgent. According to a 2022 Community Health Needs Assessment report from ChristianaCare and the Cecil County Health Department, Cecil County’s “drug poisoning death rate” is nearly double the statewide rate and triple the national average. Services like the peer recovery specialists at Union Hospital are a critical lifeline for many. Harnessing the Power of Lived Experience The peer recovery specialist program currently places 10 trained peer specialists at Union Hospital to provide supportive coverage for patients admitted to the emergency room in active withdrawal or with a history of addiction. “The peer program at Union Hospital is the perfect example of what is possible when you harness the power of lived experience and strong community partnerships,” said Health Officer Lauren Levy, JD, MPH, of the Cecil County Health Department. “The collaboration between caregivers and the peer workforce has been integral to strengthening linkages to care and improving health outcomes for people with substance use disorder.” In collaboration with caregivers — including doctors, nurses and social workers — these specialists help to support patients and to connect them with longer-term treatment and rehabilitation options within and outside of ChristianaCare. They’re present and available at the hospital from 8:30 a.m. to 1 a.m., seven days a week. Doctors and nurses who work alongside peer recovery specialists can pair patients with specialists based on patients’ needs; some patients are admitted in active withdrawal, whereas for others, a need for treatment comes up as part of their intake. “What the peers do is really very magical because they can connect to the patient,” said Lisa Fields, manager for community engagement on ChristianaCare’s Cecil County campus, “They can tell their story to the patient and say, ‘This is where I have been. I do understand.’” Partnerships Support People in Need Voices of Hope, with a primary mission of supporting addiction recovery for Maryland residents and their families, trains peer specialists alongside the Cecil County Health Department, another vital partner in the peer recovery specialist program. Training requires 500 hours in the role and 25 hours of supervision from a registered peer supervisor. Peer recovery specialists provide a form of connection that is unique and impactful for someone struggling with substance use disorder: empathy informed by personal experience. For Erin Wright, Voices of Hope’s chief operations officer, this partnership has enabled all the involved providers to build a unique, vital community to support people in need of help. “The opposite of addiction is connection,” she said. “I’ve had doctors come to my peers, and say, ‘How did you just do that?’ A peer can walk in the room and, in 20 minutes, walk out and say, ‘Listen, here’s the plan.” Back in 2019, Younce’s emergency-room encounter with Aaron led to a treatment plan that included rehab, which led to his graduation from treatment and ongoing sobriety, which then led to his decision to become a peer recovery specialist himself and eventually, he hopes, a social worker. “It’s very surreal,” he said, “working at Union Hospital and actually telling patients, like, ‘I know how you feel. I’ve been in this position.’” Recovery Support Through Project Engage in Delaware ChristianaCare’s commitment to supporting patients with substance use disorders is systemwide. Project Engage, a vital initiative serving ChristianaCare’s Newark, Wilmington and Middletown campuses, aids patients struggling with alcohol or drug use by providing early intervention and referrals to substance use disorder treatment. Peer recovery specialists engage with patients in the emergency department and at the bedside, helping them understand their substance use and offering treatment options. Since 2012, Project Engage has served more than 13,000 patients and conducted over 27,000 patient engagements, with more than 60% of these engagements resulting in referrals to community treatment at discharge.

Mustafa A. Mufti, M.D. profile photo
4 min. read
Healthy Environment, Healthy People: The Intersection Between Climate and Health featured image

Healthy Environment, Healthy People: The Intersection Between Climate and Health

How is climate change influencing our health? Why does climate change have a greater impact on vulnerable populations and low-income people? How does the U.S. health care system affect the climate? How can health care systems improve their impact on the climate and the environment? ChristianaCare’s inaugural Climate and Health Conference addressed these topics and raised possible solutions at the John H. Ammon Medical Education Center on the Newark, Delaware, campus on April 12. At the conference, the common denominator was this: An unhealthy environment can lead to illnesses and deaths from air pollution, high heat, contaminated water and extreme weather events. Health systems, government entities, community organizations and individuals all have a role to play in decreasing these effects. “Climate, the environment and health care systems are intertwined,” said Greg O’Neill, MSN, APRN, AGCNS-BC. “We need to pay close attention to this relationship so we can improve health for everyone.” O’Neill is director of Patient & Family Health Education and co-chair of the Environmental Sustainability Caregiver Committee at ChristianaCare. Climate change and intensifying health conditions Negative health effects are so closely tied to the environments where people live, work and play that The Lancet called climate change “the greatest global health threat facing the world in the 21st century [and] the greatest opportunity to redefine the social and environmental determinants of health.” At the conference, speakers addressed specific areas of concern. Asthma. Air pollutants, while largely invisible, are associated with asthma. What’s more, people who live in urban areas with little green space are more likely to have uncontrolled asthma, said speaker Robert Ries, M.D., an emergency medicine resident at ChristianaCare. And there’s the rub, he said: When people with asthma spend time in green spaces, it may improve their health. “In Canada,” he said, “some doctors prescribe nature – two hours a week for better overall health outcomes. Could we do that here?” Heat-related illness. Temperatures worldwide have been rising, increasing the likelihood of heat-related health incidents. Heat waves may be harmful to children and older adults, particularly those who don’t have access to air conditioning, swimming pools or transportation to the beach, said speaker Alan Greenglass, M.D., a retired primary care physician. Children visit the emergency room 20% more frequently during heat waves. Weather-related illness. Climate change is causing more floods, which may result in respiratory problems due to mold growth; and droughts, which may threaten water safety and contribute to global food insecurity, said speaker Anat Feingold, M.D., MPH, an infectious disease specialist at Cooper Health. Stress and anxiety. Climate change can affect mental health, even leading to “solastalgia,” which is distress about environmental change and its effect on one’s home, said speaker Zachary Radcliff, Ph.D., an adolescent psychologist at Nemours. He encouraged clinicians in the audience to keep this mental health concern in mind when seeing patients as it may become more prevalent. Cardiovascular disease risk. Frequent consumption of red meat increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, the top cause of death in the U.S. It’s also unhealthy for the environment, said speaker Shirley Kalwaney, M.D., an internal medicine specialist at Inova. Livestock uses 80% of available farmland to produce only 17% of calories consumed, creating a high level of greenhouse gas emissions. By comparison, plant-based whole foods decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. They use only 16% of available farmland, producing 82% of calories consumed. This makes reducing red meat in our diets one of the most powerful ways to lower the impact on our environment. Health equity and the environment People in low-income communities are more likely to live in urban areas that experience the greatest impacts of climate change, including exposure to air pollutants and little access to green space, said speaker Abby Nerlinger, M.D., a pediatrician for Nemours. A Harvard study in 2020 demonstrated that air pollution was linked with higher death rates from COVID-19 — likely one of the many reasons the pandemic has disproportionally harmed Black and Latino communities. Similarly, access to safe, affordable housing is essential to a healthy environment, said Sarah Stowens, Ed.D., manager of State Policy and Advocacy for ChristianaCare, who advocated for legislation including the Climate Solutions Act, another bill that increased oversight regarding testing and reporting of lead poisoning and a policy to reduce waste from topical medications. Opportunities for change in health care Reduce emissions from pharmaceuticals and chemicals. These emissions are responsible for 18% of a health system’s greenhouse gas emissions. One way to reduce this number is for clinicians to prescribe a dry-powder inhaler (DPI) instead of a metered-dose inhaler (MDI) when applicable and safe for the patient and to give patients any inhalers that were used in the hospital at discharge if they are going home on the same prescription. Hospitals have opportunities to reduce greenhouse gases while caring for patients, said Deanna Benner, MSN, APRN, WHNP, women’s health nurse practitioner and co-chair of ChristianaCare’s Environmental Sustainability Caregiver Committee. The health care sector is responsible for 8.5% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, the highest per person in the world. U.S. greenhouse gas emissions account for 27% of the global health care footprint. One way to significantly reduce the carbon footprint is to use fewer anesthetic gases associated with greater greenhouse gas emissions, Benner said. Limit single-use medical devices. Did you know that one surgical procedure may produce more waste than a family of four produces in a week? Elizabeth Cerceo, M.D., director of climate health at Cooper Health, posed this question during her talk. Sterilizing and reusing medical devices, instead of using single-use medical devices, she said, may meaningfully reduce hospital waste. ChristianaCare’s commitment to healthy environments and healthy people As one of the nation’s leading health systems, ChristianaCare is taking a bold, comprehensive approach to environmental stewardship. ChristianaCare reduced its carbon footprint by 37% in 2023 by purchasing emission-free electricity. ChristianaCare joined the White House Climate Pledge to use 100% renewable energy by 2025, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030 and achieve zero net emissions by 2050. ChristianaCare has created an Environmental, Social and Governance structure to help advance a five-year strategic plan that delivers health equity and environmental stewardship. Nearly 150 staff members have become Eco-Champions, an opportunity to be environmental change-leaders in the workplace. In 2023, ChristianaCare’s successful environmental stewardship included: Reducing our carbon footprint by 37% by purchasing emission-free electricity. Recycling 96,663 pounds of paper, which preserved 11,485 trees. Reducing air pollution by releasing an estimated 33,000 fewer pounds of nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides through the use of a cogeneration energy plant on the Newark campus. Donating 34,095 pounds of unused food to the Sunday Breakfast Mission in Wilmington, Delaware. Donating 1,575 pounds of unused medical equipment to Project C.U.R.E., ChristianaCare’s Virtual Education and Simulation Training Center and Delaware Technical Community College. “In quality improvement, they say you improve the things that you measure,” O’Neill said in expressing goals for continued success. In looking ahead, said Benner, “I really hope that this conference is the catalyst for positive change with more people understanding how climate is connected to health, so that we can protect health from environmental harms and promote a healthy environment for all people to thrive.”

Greg O'Neill, MSN, APRN, AGCNS-BC profile photo
5 min. read
What Happened to Haiti to Make it a Perpetual Failed State? | Media Advisory featured image

What Happened to Haiti to Make it a Perpetual Failed State? | Media Advisory

Haiti's prolonged struggle with political instability, economic hardship, and natural disasters raises critical questions about international aid, governance, and the path to sustainable development. This topic is not just newsworthy for its historical complexity but also for its implications on human rights, regional stability, and global efforts to address poverty and inequality. Haiti's story prompts a deeper examination of: The impact of foreign intervention and aid Political corruption and its effects on governance Economic policies and their role in sustainable development Social movements and the fight for democracy Environmental degradation and resilience Connect with an Expert about What Happened to Haiti to Make it a Perpetual Failed State? For journalists seeking research or insights for their coverage about the ongoing crisis in Haiti, here is a select list of experts from our database. To search our full list of experts, visit www.expertfile.com Ken Keen Associate Professor in the Practice of Organization & Management; Associate Dean for Leadership; Lieutenant General, USA (Retired) –  Emory University, Goizueta Business Robert Fuller, M.D., FACEP UConn Health Chairman of Emergency Medicine – University of Connecticut Benjamin Hebblethwaite Associate Professor  in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures – University of Florida Paul Kramer Associate Professor of History – Vanderbilt University                                                                                                                                                     Photo credit: Heather Suggitt

1 min. read
ChristianaCare Opens Pediatric Care Center on Newark Campus, Offering 24/7 Pediatric Services in a New 14-Bed Unit featured image

ChristianaCare Opens Pediatric Care Center on Newark Campus, Offering 24/7 Pediatric Services in a New 14-Bed Unit

New center helps meet growing need for pediatric care in our community Families in northern Delaware and surrounding areas have a new option for pediatric care. Today ChristianaCare opened a new 14-bed Pediatric Care Center that provides 24/7 combined short-stay inpatient and emergency care for children and teens. The new center is located on the first floor of the Center for Women’s & Children’s Health on ChristianaCare’s Newark Campus. “This new facility is an exciting step in our continued journey to create the absolute best care for children and families in our community,” said David Paul, M.D., chair of the Department of Pediatrics. “The Pediatric Care Center will significantly improve access to care for children, enhance the patient experience and address the needs of families who want high-quality care in a child-friendly environment.” The 24-hour Pediatric Care Center will be able to evaluate and manage 90% of the pediatric cases currently seen in the Christiana Hospital Emergency Department. The center expects to care for an estimated 6,300 patients the first year, with volume projected to grow 5% each year. The Pediatric Care Center also provides expert care to children and adolescents with behavioral health emergency needs and appropriate referral sources for follow-up care. “Our new Pediatric Care Center makes it easier than ever for families and children to receive excellent care when they need it, in a special space designed just for them,” said Sharon Kurfuerst, Ed.D., OTR/L, FACHE, system chief operating officer at ChristianaCare and President, Union Hospital. “The center will care for the special needs of pediatric patients, making it convenient for them to receive dedicated, expert resources for hospital-based, non-trauma emergency and inpatient care all in one location.” The 8,400 square-foot facility provides 14 beds for emergency and short-stay inpatient and observation care. “We offer 24/7 pediatric emergency care 365 days a year,” said Megan Mickley, M.D., MBA, FAAP, FACEP, medical director, who is board certified in Pediatrics and Pediatric Emergency Medicine and fellowship-trained in Pediatric Emergency Medicine and Emergency Ultrasound. “The Pediatric Care Center team is a diverse, multidisciplinary group led by pediatric physicians trained in a variety of backgrounds, including emergency medicine and hospital medicine,” she said. “Our goals are not only to provide exceptional quality of care for children, but also to improve access to and expand pediatric care services for our neighbors. We look forward to being a trusted partner for pediatric care in our community.” About the Center for Women’s & Children’s Health The Center for Women’s & Children’s Health, which opened in a state-of-the-art facility in 2020 on ChristianaCare’s Newark campus, represents a new standard of care for our community. It is the region’s only National Community Center of Excellence in Women’s Health and offers innovative, patient-centered care for mothers, babies and families. The center provides private rooms for mothers and families after delivery and is one of the only hospitals in the United States to provide couplet care in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, keeping mother and baby together even if they both require medical care.

3 min. read