Nemours Children's Hospital Opens, Offers New Specialties To The Southeast

ORLANDO, Fla., Oct. 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- With the $397-million Nemours Children's Hospital opening today, families in Florida and the southeast have a new place to go for highly specialized medical care designed to meet the needs of their child's condition. The new children's hospital offers access to specialized pediatric care not previously provided in the area.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121022/FL97714 )

Nemours Children's Hospital has focused on hiring nationally recognized pediatric specialists to meet a growing demand in the region, bringing new specialties not only to Florida, but the southeast region as well. A few of the 80 physicians putting Nemours Children's Hospital at the forefront of pediatric care include:

• Cartland Burns, M.D., the leading pediatric surgeon in the southeast specializing in a procedure to dramatically improve the lives of children living with intestinal failure.
• Ken Liechty, M.D., the chair of surgery; surgeon-in-chief; director of fetal medicine; and the first fetal surgeon in the southeast.
• Craig Johnson, M.D., the first fellowship trained pediatric interventional radiologist in Florida.
• Terri Finkel, M.D., Ph.D., who is the first pediatric rheumatologist based in Orlando and will treat children with childhood arthritis, the number one cause of acquired childhood disability.  
• Richard Finkel, M.D., internationally known for his treatment and research of neuromuscular disorders. With his arrival, Nemours will offer a Muscular Dystrophy Association Clinic, not presently available in Orlando.

Nemours Children's Hospital's location in Lake Nona Medical City was chosen for its close proximity to the Orlando International Airport, providing easy access for families traveling to receive treatment at the new hospital.

"Many families travel hundreds of miles to seek the treatment their child needs for a chronic condition – we provide a new alternative closer to home," said Roger Oxendale, CEO of Nemours Children's Hospital. "Reducing travel reduces the chances of travel-related side-effects on a child's treatment, and creates better outcomes for the child."

The state-of-the-art, 630,000-square-foot hospital has 95 beds, all private rooms, a full-service pediatric emergency department, a NICU and PICU, and anchors a 60-acre, fully-integrated health campus that includes a new Nemours Children's Clinic, and extensive research and education facilities.

Located in the heart of Lake Nona Medical City, its neighbors include the University of Central Florida Health Sciences Campus, the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, the University of Florida Research and Academic Center and MD Anderson Cancer Research Institute.

About Nemours

Nemours is an internationally recognized children's health system that owns and operates the Alfred I. duPont Hospital in Wilmington, Del., along with major pediatric specialty clinics in Delaware, Florida, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. In October 2012, it opened the full-service Nemours Children's Hospital in Orlando, Fla.

Established as The Nemours Foundation through the legacy and philanthropy of Alfred I. du Pont, Nemours offers pediatric clinical care, research, education, advocacy and prevention programs to all families in the communities it serves. For more information, visit https://www.nemours.org.

SOURCE Nemours Children's Hospital