Rutgers Health Expands Surgical Care for Kids
New child-friendly, brightly decorated location lets kids play games before visit
“To have a strong children’s hospital, you need a solid pediatric surgical program, and we absolutely have that here. This is a perfect office complement to that space. It’s just the beginning.”– John Gantner
Rutgers Health’s Surgical Care for Kids has opened a new location for children with some of the most complex surgical needs in a brightly decorated, child-friendly space with an interactive wall in the waiting room that lets kids play games before their visit to the doctor.
The practice, which consists of Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School–affiliated specialists in pediatric surgery, pediatric neurosurgery and pediatric urology, is located on the third floor of the medical school’s Clinical Academic Building at 125 Paterson St. in New Brunswick. The physicians have expertise in advanced and minimally invasive surgical procedures and care for children with some of the most complex surgical needs.
“We are pleased to welcome children and families into this contemporary new space, which will not only increase the number of children we serve, but also the type of advanced surgical services we provide,” says Sherine Gabriel, distinguished professor and dean, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS). “We look forward to expanding those services even further as our patients’ needs grow.”
While the new location is more patient-friendly, the differences in the practice’s new space are far more than just aesthetic, says Yi-Horng Lee, chief of pediatric surgery at RWJMS and surgeon-in-chief at The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital.
A new fetal counseling center enables the Surgical Care for Kids experts to work with expectant parents to plan for immediate surgical needs of children with conditions that may require surgery shortly after birth, such as gastroschisis, where a baby’s intestines have developed outside the baby’s body.
In addition to the fetal counseling center, new and expanded services include an intestinal care center specifically for children, coordinated pediatric trauma care, a special procedures room, and larger consultation areas for multidisciplinary care of children with advanced surgical needs.
Featuring joint services of divisions within the medical school’s Departments of Pediatrics, Surgery and Neurosurgery, the Surgical Care for Kids practice houses the offices of a number of faculty physicians.
Representatives from The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital said they are looking forward to continuing their work with them in providing additional services for pediatric patients.
John Gantner, president and CEO of Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, said the relationship with Rutgers and the expanded clinical enterprise with RWJBarnabas Health will make the program even stronger.
“To have a strong children’s hospital, you need a solid pediatric surgical program, and we absolutely have that here,” says Gantner. “This is a perfect office complement to that space. It’s just the beginning.”