Children’s Health Network Small Talk Issue One

Fernando Ferrer, MD, FAAP, FACS

Chief Pediatric Officer

RWJBarnabas Health

How We Are Advancing Pediatric Care

As Chief Pediatric Officer for RWJBarnabas Health (RWJBH), I’m pleased
to welcome you to “Small Talk,” our new children’s health
e-newsletter for pediatric providers.

At RWJBH, we’re building on a strong foundation to address health
care challenges and opportunities for a diverse New Jersey population
that includes 2 million children. Being the largest health care system
and largest single provider of pediatric care in the state gives us significant
reach and the opportunity to deliver outstanding services to our children
and families.

We’re focused on meeting the changing needs of our pediatric population
and expanding our capabilities in order to care for children with the
highest levels of complexity. Our vision includes focusing on critical
issues such as:

1. Attracting Top Providers

Recent trends predict a worsening shortage of pediatric providers as demonstrated
by diminshed filling of general pediatric and subspecialty training programs
positions. We are evaluating our needs systematically, looking to fill
talent gaps with clinicians who have highly specific skill sets. We will
leverge our ongoing academic partnerships with Rutgers Health to enhance
research and education and attract the best talent to our system. We are
also honing our recruitment process to facilitate recruitment in a very
competitive environment. Recently, we’ve been successful making multiple
key recruitments that expand our talent network in a variety of areas, including surgery
for children. Two key leadership examples:

• Vikas Dharnidharka, MD, a nationally recognized leader in nephrology, pediatrics and transplantation,
  joined RWJBH in October 2024 as Chair of Pediatrics and Physician-in-Chief
  of The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital (BMSCH) at Robert
  Wood Johnson University Hospital, part of the Children’s Health
  network. Dr. Dharnidharka is also Henry Rutgers Professor and Chair of
  the Department of Pediatrics at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RRWJMS).
• Steven Stylianos, MD, a nationally renowned pediatric surgeon, joined RWJBH in December 2024
  as System Director for Pediatric Surgery and Surgeon-in-Chief at BMSCH.
  Dr. Stylianos is also professor of surgery in the Department of Surgery
  and Chief of the Division of Pediatric Surgery at RRWJMS.

2. Advancing Quality and Safety

National pediatric health care trends indicate a growing need for centers
that can manage complex conditions. Naturally, this requires increased
focus on quality and safety. We are addressing these needs through initiatives
such as our neonatal care collaborative, where we bring the strength and
capability of our system together to advance quality and safety and develop
advanced programs in niche areas. An example of this is reflected in our
unified key metrics scorecard whereby we carefully track our performance
in key safety metrics across all our NICU’s. Across our system,
we are expanding our participation in key pediatric safety programs, such
as Children’s Hospitals’ Solutions for Patient Safety and
the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program for Children. Finally,
as a system we have created a pediatric specific quality council. This
multidisciplinary group includes physicians, nurses, phamarcists and hospital
leaders and is dedicated to advancing pediatric outcomes and patient experience
as well as quality and safety across all of our platforms.

3. Post-Acute Care

Children leaving acute care often need additional specialized care, yet
very few places have an extensive post-acute care platform for children
like we do. Our capabilities, including
Children’s Specialized Hospital, are a unique asset for an organization that’s expanding high-complexity
care. Ongoing care involves not just applying technical skills but also
understanding psychological complexities and the impact of a patient’s
care environment. We have extensive services available to help patients
and families navigate the health care experience and finish treatment
feeing both physically and mentally well.

4. Filling Subspecialty Gaps

Complex care requires highly specialized expertise even within a specialty
program, and we’re bringing that expertise to New Jersey families.
For example, Dr. Stylianos is experienced in highly complex liver surgeries,
including the Kasai procedure to alleviate biliary obstruction and jaundice
in infants with biliary atresia. Our Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplantation
and Cellular Therapy Program, one of the only ones in the state, ensures
that our smallest patients and their families don’t need to leave
New Jersey to receive the most advanced lifesaving cancer and blood disorder
treatments. This first e-newsletter highlights several more examples,
including our
Pediatric Orthopedic Multispecialty Program and our nationally recognized children’s programs in
celiac disease and
cleft palate and craniofacial care. Finally, we share the story of
Jayden, who was born with bladder exstrophy, a rare, complex condition that few
centers can manage. His multispecialty care lead by our Urology program
demonstrates our expanding specialty expertise.

New Pediatric Orthopedic Multidisciplinary Program

In February 2025, Children’s Specialized Hospital (CSH), part of
the Children’s Health network at RWJBarnabas Health (RWJBH), and
the Pediatric Orthopedic program, whose physicians are part of the RWJBarnabas
Health Medical Group, launched a state-of-the-art
Pediatric Orthopedic Multidisciplinary Program, located in East Brunswick, New Jersey.
Read more

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Celiac Disease Program Earns National Recognition

Reputation and trust are critical in health care, especially in pediatrics,
which makes it highly rewarding to have many of our specialty programs
recognized by national organizations. One recent example is the RWJBarnabas Health
Pediatric Celiac Disease Center, located at the Ann Vogel Family Care and Wellness Center in Eatontown,
the only such center offering multispecialty care in new Jersey, has been
honored by
The Society for the Study of Celiac Disease (SSCD) as part of its Celiac Disease Unit Recognition Program. This recognition
affirms that the center has demonstrated a significant commitment to delivering
quality celiac disease diagnosis and treatment. The RWJBarnabas Health
Pediatric Celiac Disease Center is one of only 10 centers in the U.S.
with this designation.
Read more

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Cleft and Craniofacial Surgery Program

The Rutgers Health Cleft and Craniofacial Team at
Bristol Meyers Squibb Children’s Hospital offers comprehensive care for children, adults, and families with a wide
range of facial differences. Our team is committed to providing expert
care to children born with clefts and other craniofacial differences.
We are a multi-specialty team who will meet you and your child early on
and follow closely from infancy to adulthood. Our ultimate goal is to
provide you and your child with comprehensive multidisciplinary care close
to home. Our cleft team is approved by the
American Cleft Palate Craniofacial Association, signifying our commitment to providing comprehensive, multidisciplinary care.
Read more

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RWJBarnabas Health Welcomes New Pediatric Clinicians

The Children’s Health network of RWJBarnabas Health, which offers
expertise in both complex medical conditions and childhood wellness, is
advancing pediatric care statewide by building a powerful network of general
and specialist clinicians along with institutional alliances to support
their work. We are pleased to welcome
these excellent physicians to our clinical team.
Read more

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Improving Care for School-Age Children With Diabetes

It’s critical to ensure that all children with diabetes, one of the
most common chronic diseases of childhood, receive optimal care while
at school. School nurses and educators should have an excellent understanding
of the role diet and exercise play in maintaining good glycemic control
and be familiar with current technologies children might be using to manage
diabetes. In addition, they must be familiar with the signs and symptoms
of hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia, as well as initial treatments for each.
Read more

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Expert Surgical Care for an Infant With a Rare Bladder Defect

When Julia Rodriguez De Los Santos gave birth to her third child, Jayden
in February 2024 at
Clara Maass Medical Center, an RWJBarnabas Health hospital, he was immediately diagnosed with bladder
exstrophy.

This rare condition occurs when a baby’s bladder and lower abdominal
wall don’t close properly during fetal development. Jayden’s
pubic bones were separated, and his bladder remained open outside of his
abdomen. Because the bladder and urethra were not formed completely, his
bladder couldn’t hold urine.
Read more