A-HA Program
The After-Hospital Asthma (A-HA!) Clinic at St. Christopher's aims to increase post-hospital follow-up visits and decrease re-admissions and repeat visits to the emergency department for asthma.
Clinic appointments are scheduled within seven to 10 days of discharge for all patients over 2 years of age admitted to St. Christopher's for the treatment of asthma. At each visit, a nurse practitioner reviews the patient's hospitalization records, medications, and management techniques, as well as assesses his or her current condition. A social worker also evaluates each patient and guides families to resources to alleviate any issues affecting their children's asthma. Additionally, all patients and families receive asthma education regarding triggers, warnings signs, medication compliance, medication delivery and the patient's individual asthma action plan.
Each patient's primary care physician receives a letter summarizing the patient's A-HA! Clinic visit.
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Burn Center for Children
As the only dedicated pediatric burn facility in the area, St. Christopher's Burn Center prides itself on having a multidisciplinary team of pediatric specialists trained to work specifically with young burn patients. The Burn Center's unique specialization allows for specific treatments tailored for children. In addition to offering acute care, outpatient rehabilitation and advanced reconstructive surgery, the team uses advanced technology in wound management, making dressing changes less frequent and less painful for patients.
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Center for Children & Youth with Special Health Care Needs
The Center works together with families of children from birth to the age of 21 with complex illnesses, providing ongoing, comprehensive family-centered medical care to improve access to services, community resources and advocacy to assure that children obtain optimal support through life stages as well as promote their independence. The team helps parents care for children who are dependent on technology such as tracheotomies or feeding tubes as well as those with complex illnesses such as Down syndrome or fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. The Center has a "Next Steps" follow-up program for infants who have been in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. As patients get older, families are assisted in transitioning their children to adult-oriented programs.
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Cleft Lip and Palate Program
The renowned Cleft Lip and Palate Program is multidisciplinary and encompasses the combined experience of plastic surgeons, neurosurgeons, oral surgeons, orthodontists, speech therapists, otolaryngologists and social workers. Geneticists and speech and hearing specialists also participate in the care of all cleft and craniofacial patients. The team uses advanced techniques that begin the process of correcting cleft deformities within the first year of a child's life.
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Concussion/Traumatic Brain Injury Program
The Concussion Program evaluates and treats children of all ages who have sustained concussions and other mild head injuries. The Program provides high-quality, multidisciplinary care and counseling and education for parents, referring physicians, coaches and athletic directors on the current management of traumatic brain injury and concussions. Treatment is tailored for each child. Children receive a comprehensive evaluation to assess cognitive dysfunction potentially affected by a concussion (e.g., attention, memory, speech, etc.). Specialists involved in their care may include some or all of the following: neurosurgeons, neurologists, neuropsychologists, radiologists and physical therapists.
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Cystic Fibrosis Center
St. Christopher's nationally accredited Cystic Fibrosis Center is a Therapeutic Development Center working with the National CF Foundation to conduct clinical research to remain on the forefront of advanced medical treatment and therapies. The Center's expert team includes pulmonologists, nurses, respiratory therapists, dietitians, a research coordinator and social worker – all of whom are specifically trained in CF care. The Center's Pulmonary Function Laboratory is accredited by the National CF Foundation and functions under the guidelines of the American Thoracic Society. Children of all ages can benefit from the sophisticated diagnostic equipment featured in the pulmonary and sweat test labs.
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Dorothy Mann Center for Pediatric and Adolescent HIV
The Dorothy Mann Center for Pediatric and Adolescent HIV at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children provides HIV/AIDS care, prevention, and outreach to vulnerable youth in the Philadelphia area. Staff also visits doctors' offices, providing continuing medical education for the professionals about HIV testing and shares their tools and expertise in implementing testing programs in their offices.
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Epilepsy Program
The comprehensive Epilepsy Program offers testing of and treatment for children of all ages who have experienced seizures. Specialists involved in their care may include some or all of the following: neurologists including epileptologists, neurosurgeons, neuropsychologists, radiologists and physical or occupational therapists. A wide range of treatments exist to control seizures including antiepileptic medications, strictly monitored ketogenic (high fat, low carbohydrate) diet and epilepsy surgery.
For patients being evaluated for epilepsy surgery, inpatient video EEG monitoring, WADA testing, and more invasive monitoring including the use of grids and strips is used to assess the course of action.
The range of surgical options offered for seizure disorders includes: focal resections — excision of small areas responsible for seizures; hemispherotomy —disconnection of a cerebral hemisphere; corpus callosotomy — disruption of the connection between the brain's two hemispheres and vagus nerve stimulation — the insertion of a pulse generator that sends electrical impulses to disrupt the formation of seizures.
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Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO)
Critically ill infants and children of all ages who require ECMO, which is one of the most advanced forms of life support available to patients experiencing acute failure of the cardio-respiratory system, are treated by St. Christopher's internationally recognized ECMO team. St. Christopher's ECMO program, which has been in place since 2001, is an intense, multidisciplinary program comprised of specialty nurses, perfusionists, respiratory care practitioners, intensive care physicians, surgeons and neonatologists.
A testament to the strength of the program is that more than 92 percent of infants receiving ECMO services for respiratory support at the hospital survive. This is well above the 76 percent national survival rate. St. Christopher's ECMO team has developed training programs and strategies for reaching performance excellence measures to assure the highest quality of ECMO services. The ECMO team received the "Excellence in Life Support Award" by an international consortium of ECMO centers and was named "Best Nursing Team 2010" in the tri-state area by ADVANCE magazine.
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Grow Clinic
The Grow Clinic's multidisciplinary team of a pediatrician, nutritionist, social worker/coordinator, and psychologist evaluates patients to address the multiple medical and psychosocial issues that cause failure to thrive. The team develops a comprehensive treatment plan to improve nutrition and promote growth for the child and family as well as provide appropriate resources.
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Intestinal Failure Program
The Intestinal Failure Program focuses on children with short bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis). The program involves the evaluation and management of the medical, nutritional and surgical problems in these children. It is a multispecialty program involving Gastroenterology, Surgery and Nutrition.
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Kidney Transplant Program
The Kidney Transplant Program is at the cutting edge of kidney transplantation and is one of the few programs in the country to offer steroid-free care, if requested. Staff provides comprehensive care to infants and children undergoing kidney transplantation. St. Christopher's has performed more than 430 kidney transplants since 1971. The Transplant Program is coordinated with the hospital's dialysis team to ensure every child is afforded the opportunity to receive a kidney transplant in a rapid, efficient and safe manner, allowing for a return to a more normal life.
The Transplant Program is part of the Kidney Center, which provides evaluation and care of children of all ages with acute and chronic kidney disease, urinary tract infections, kidney stones, hypertension, and all types of body fluid and chemistry disturbances.
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Minimally Invasive Surgery Program
The Minimally Invasive Surgery Program is at the forefront in the use of minimally invasive techniques including single port surgery in the chest and abdomen. Minimally invasive surgery is advantageous in the surgery of children of all ages, with shortened hospitalizations, less postoperative pain and minimal incisions.
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Mitochondrial Disorders Lab
The Mitochondrial Disorders Lab at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children is one of only five centers in the country equipped to analyze mitochondrial metabolism in mitochondria isolated from fresh muscle biopsy, as well as in frozen muscle and fibroblasts. Additionally, the lab can provide a detailed genetic analysis of mitochondrial disorders. Neurologists at St. Christopher's are conducting ongoing research into mitochondrial disorders to better understand and treat them.
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Regional Fetal Evaluation Center
The comprehensive Regional Fetal Evaluation Center provides expertise in prenatal diagnosis and treatment, reproductive genetics, and multidisciplinary consultations for expectant mothers with leading pediatric subspecialists at St. Christopher's. The Center's nurse coordinator helps ensure personalized service by coordinating all appointments and serving as a point of contact who follows the family from the initial visit through delivery and subsequent specialty treatment. St. Christopher's offers fetal echocardiography and fetal MRI testing for evaluation of expectant mothers.
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Sickle Cell and Research Center
The Comprehensive Sickle Cell Care and Research Center is one of three regional referral centers licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Health to treat newborns diagnosed with hemoglobinopathies. Researchers at the Center are testing new medications and treatments for sickle cell pain and blood vessel problems, and participate in other national research programs to develop a better understanding of this complex disease. The Center coordinates acute care, routine follow-up care, and treatment with the anti-sickling medication hydroxyurea, referrals for curative bone marrow transplantation, as well as genetic counseling, patient and family education and counseling, and school and vocational assistance for children of all ages with sickle cell disease.
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Sleep Center for Children
The nationally accredited Sleep Center treats patients of all ages, from toddlers who have enlarged tonsils or may breathe through their mouths – causing sleep apnea, to adolescents and teens who suffer from the inability to fall asleep or stay awake due to altered sleep cycles, as well as children with sleep issues resulting from medical conditions such as obesity, Down syndrome, lung disease, seizure disorders and congenital malformations of the face. Staff members include pulmonologists and neurologists who are all board-certified in sleep medicine, as well as specially trained polysomnogram technologists and respiratory therapists.
The Center uses advanced equipment to monitor brain waves, heartbeat, eye and leg movements, respiratory patterns and oxygen levels. Procedures performed include nocturnal polysomnogram testing, supplemental oxygen or oxygen weaning, non-invasive ventilatory support including continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and bilevel positive airway pressure (BiPAP), mechanical assisted ventilation weanings, gastroesophageal reflux testing, multiple sleep latency testing (MSLT) and maintenance of wakefulness testing (MWT).
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Trauma Center
St. Christopher's Trauma Program team, comprised of dedicated pediatric specialists, is committed to providing compassionate and individualized care for minor injuries through severe multi-system trauma cases. The hospital has one of three state-accredited Regional Level I Pediatric Trauma Centers that is capable of providing highly specialized treatment of the most critical injuries.
The team includes board-certified emergency physicians, trauma surgeons and anesthesiologists as well as neurosurgeons, orthopedic and plastic surgeons. Patients have access to advanced radiology services, an in-house surgical team with a dedicated operating room suite, advanced laboratory capabilities allowing for availability of blood and blood products, and short turnaround time for lab testing. Patients are subsequently treated in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) with board-certified critical care specialists.
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