In the News
Colorectal Team Helps Out in Ghana
The road ahead looks much brighter for 25 children who received advanced colorectal surgery — thanks to 27 people who made a 5,600-mile journey from Cincinnati to the western coast of Africa. After nearly two years of planning, a group led by Marc Levitt, MD, director of the Colorectal Center for Children at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, took a weeklong medical mission trip to Ghana in January. Local surgeons performed 26 operations to help children with Hirschsprung’s disease, anorectal malformations, fecal incontinence and other problems. To learn more about their
medical mission, check out the slideshow about their trip.
Clinic Opens for High-Risk Moms
The Fetal Care Center of Cincinnati has opened a Pediatric Disease and Pregnancy (PDAP) Clinic for moms-to-be who have had pediatric health conditions. The clinic serves women who have or have had conditions that can affect pregnancy, such as cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anemia, pediatric cancers and blood diseases, colorectal malformation, inflammatory bowel disease, organ transplants, heart disease and endocrine disorders. The clinic team connects women with specialists in high-risk obstetrics.
Health and Human Services Chief Visits
The future of health care is here. And it’s in practice at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. That’s what Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, declared after touring the medical center in April and seeing how patient-centered care and the use of information technology translate into high quality health care. “This term ‘patient-centered’ is used a lot,” said Sebelius, a Cincinnati native who came back to visit the hospital at the invitation of President and CEO Michael Fisher, “but to see what it really means here is impressive.”
Patient Announces Steelers’ Draft Pick
Pittsburgh Steelers’ fan Zach Hatfield, a 15-year-old leukemia patient from Belfry, Ky., lived out a dream in April through the efforts of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. He got to announce the Steelers’ first-round pick at the NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall in New York. Zach has acute promyelocytic leukemia, a rare form of cancer of the blood and bone marrow. While the family was here seeking treatment, they learned their home in Belfry was destroyed in a fire. After Zach’s last bone marrow treatment, they were able to settle into a new home in Belfry. Zach’s doctors hope the worst is behind him.
Headache Center Expands
Beginning this summer, the Headache Center at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center — already the largest pediatric headache center in the world — is expanding to see patients up to 25 years of age. That will allow doctors to follow patients longer and find ways to manage headache problems as teens enter adulthood. Researchers have found teen girls suffer more debilitating headaches than any other segment of the population. Doctors say if they can treat severe childhood headaches early enough, they may be able to reverse the progression of migraines.
