October 7, 2013 — Dr. Joseph W. St. Geme III, the new physician-in-chief at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania, assumed his new position on July 1, 2013. We are all excited to have Joe back as our chairman. We are also exceptionally grateful to Dr Alan Cohen for the tremendous job he did for the past 12 years, leading our faculty to the No. 1 position as the best in the county.

U.S. News & World Report announced in June its 2013-14 rankings of the nation’s best children’s hospitals. CHOP once again earned the top ranking on the U.S. News honor roll. No other institution shared the No. 1 spot with CHOP. Dr Steve Altschuler, CEO, attributed this honor to the excellence of the care provided by the entire staff at CHOP. All of our specialty programs ranked among the top four in the nation; Urology and Pulmonary achieved No. 1 rankings.

The survey methodology utilized by U.S. News & World Report, which you can review at http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/pediatric-rankings, placed more emphasis on safety and outcomes data and emphasized patient vaccination and healthcare-acquired infection rates.

CHOP also announced that the 1000th fetal surgery patient was born in the Garbose Special Delivery Unit during the first week of June 2013. This represents approximately 25 percent of all fetal surgical procedures that have been done worldwide. Nearly 20 percent of fetal surgeries at CHOP are done on mothers carrying infants diagnosed with spina bifida. Every year, the Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment manages hundreds of pregnancies complicated by birth defects, in which newborns need immediate specialized medical care or surgery after delivery — if not in utero.

You can meet the family and Audrey Rose, the 1000th child born, in this video available at bit.ly/1000fetalsurgery.

Congratulations to Dr Jim O’Neill, who received the annual Richard D. Wood Distinguished Alumni Award. At the general medical staff meeting, he gave a nostalgic presentation of past experiences as surgeon-in-chief. Following the presentation, he was welcomed by a large number of senior and close alumni at a warm reception.

Dr Jim Stockman, former resident and chief resident at CHOP and former president and CEO of the American Board of Pediatrics, received the special award for Outstanding Lifetime Contributions to Pediatric Medical Education and the Development of Pediatricians from the Association of Pediatric Program Directors. He continues as editor of the Year Book of Pediatrics.

Dr Audrey Evans, former chief of the Division of Oncology, was awarded the coveted I.P. Strittmatter Award by the Philadelphia County Medical Society as a “physician who has made the most notable contributions to the healing art — surgical or medical.”

If you have information about yourself or other CHOP alumni, contact Barrie Nussbaum at nussbaumb@email.chop.edu. You can find more information about fellow alumni on our alumni website at www.chopalumni.org.

Awards, Honors

  • Paul M. Weinberg, MD, FAAC, a pediatric cardiologist at Children’s Hospital, received the 2013 Distinguished Teacher Award from the American College of Cardiology.
  • Stephan A. Grupp, MD, PhD, director of translational research for the center for Childhood Cancer Research and medical director of the Stem Cell Laboratory at CHOP, was given the Community Service Award by Chai Lifeline.
  • Sheldon Bernick, DDS, a former CHOP fellow and a volunteer dentist at Children’s Hospital for the past 15 years, received the Manuel M. Album Award at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry in recognition of his outstanding delivery of care for children with special needs.
  • Cindy Christian, MD, chair of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention at CHOP, was presented with the Helfer Award at the Ray E. Helfer Society’s Annual Meeting in recognition of her distinguished contributions to the field. Christian is also the medical director of the Philadelphia Department of Human Services and in 2012 served on the Pennsylvania Task Force on Child Protection, which reviewed all current child abuse laws and made recommendations for changes that would better protect children.

Contributed by: Patrick S. Pasquariello, MD