Becoming a level one children's surgery center through the American College of Surgeons requires hospitals to meet comprehensive quality goals regarding resources, credentials, volumes, outcomes, and administrative support. In this video, Dr. Robert Obermeyer, chief of surgery at Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters, discusses how a range of pediatric surgical specialties and support services collaborate to make every surgery at CHKD, from the straightforward to the complex, as safe as possible for children.
What special criteria did CHKD have to demonstrate to qualify as a level one children's surgery center? We had to demonstrate that we can provide safe care before during and after surgery for patients with few if any medical conditions, to those with complex medical issues who require multidisciplinary care, we also had to demonstrate that we can provide a wide scope of surgical capabilities and that we have a very high surgical volume. So when we say that Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters is a level one pediatric surgery center. This is something we take great pride in and something that we all worked very hard to achieve. How many pediatric surgeries does CHKD perform in a year? Last year? We did more than 13,000, 13,358 to be exact. That is a significant number of surgical cases and demonstrates that we provide a level of pediatric experience that few hospitals can match in our region. What surgical specialties does CHKD offer? CHKD Surgical group consists of practices including pediatric cardiac surgery, pediatric neuro surgery, general pediatric surgery and trauma surgery, pediatric orthopedic surgery, pediatric, plastic and oral maxillofacial surgery, pediatric urology, we are also very fortunate to have skilled surgeons from EV MS in the community perform their pediatric surgeries at CHKD facilities including ear, nose and throat surgery, gynecological surgery, ophthalmology, oral surgery, dentistry, and podiatry. Another specialty at CHKD that is extremely crucial for providing safe care for every pediatric surgery patient is pediatric anesthesiology. CHKD has a team of very skilled anesthesiologists and certified nurse anesthetists with pediatric specific training and years and years of pediatric experience having surgeons and an anesthesiology group that have dedicated their training and career to caring for Children. Results in a team which I believe makes every pediatric surgery safer and is a major differentiator for CHKD in our region. Are there special requirements outside of the actual surgery department? And ors for level one surgery centers? There are many things including having neonatal and pediatric intensive care units. A specialized nursing staff, respiratory therapist, physical therapists, dietitians, social workers, child life services, radiologists, pharmacists and multiple medical specialists trained to provide care specifically for pediatric patients.
