Newsroom

The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and the Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian in New York City today announced a joint venture to create a pediatric cardiac surgery program at the New Jersey hospital.

The venture also has been joined by the College of Physicians Surgeons of Columbia University Medical Center, one of two Ivy League medical schools affiliated with New York-Presbyterian Hospital, and Robert Wood Johnson Medical School of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ).

The creation of a pediatric heart surgery program at The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital will be the first such program in Central New Jersey and the third in the state. This is the first joint venture between NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, the largest hospital in New York, and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, one of the largest hospitals in New Jersey. According to the American Heart Association, about 40,000 children are born with a heart defect each year.

By joining with a nationally recognized leader in the field, The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital will be able to offer children in our region the most comprehensive cardiac care available, said Harvey A. Holzberg, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital President and CEO. This partnership gives families easy access to an established heart surgery program,and expands the first-rate pediatric services of our children's hospital under the clinical leadership of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

This innovative venture allows our program to expand by assisting in the development of a new program for the convenient care of patients, said Dr. Herbert Pardes, President and CEO of New York-Presbyterian Hospital. Ina relatively short time, this joint venture will create a top-notch pediatric cardiology program with the most efficient use of knowledge, staff, and equipment.

Our two hospitals share a common goal to provide the highest quality care for children, and an important part of quality is access to care, said Cynthia Sparer, Executive Director of the Children's Hospital of New York-Presbyterian. This collaboration creates the best possible arrangement for the convenience of children and their families throughout New Jersey and assures that whatever the child requires can be met under a single program.

The partnership will make it possible for children who have cardiac defects to be treated within the state-of-the-art, family-friendly children's hospital in New Brunswick. Once fully established, the program will offer pediatric cardiac services ranging from cardiac diagnostic studies to interventional cardiac procedures such as cardiac catheterization and open-heart surgery.

The partnership also continues the steady expansion of pediatric specialty teaching programs offered at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. The agreement will expand the Division of Cardiology within the medical school's Department of Pediatrics under the leadership of pediatric cardiologist Joseph W. Gaffney, M.D., and Department Chairman Daniel A. Notterman, M.D., who is also Physician-in-Chief of The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital.

We are proud to be part of a collaboration which advances the medical school's education, research and patient care programs at The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, said Harold L. Paz,M.D., Dean of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. The partnership we announce today is another significant milestone in developing the premier pediatric academic health center in New Jersey.

We are pleased to partner with an outstanding peer institution like Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in expanding education in the area of pediatric cardiology. We look forward to helping increase the number of superb physicians who can address the urgent needs of children with heart disease, said Gerald D. Fischbach,M.D., Executive Vice President and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Columbia University Medical Center.

The Children's Hospital of New York-Presbyterian is ranked by US News World Report as one of the top four pediatric hospitals in the United States, and is home to one of the nation's largest and most respected pediatric cardiology and cardiac surgery programs. Under the agreement, the hospital's pediatric cardiac surgeons will perform cardiac surgery at The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital.

In addition, the full-time pediatric cardiologists on faculty of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School will diagnose and treat children with congenital heart disease, and determine if they are candidates for open-heart surgery. They will also oversee procedures that will be carried out in a new pediatric catheterization lab under construction as part of the expansion of The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital.

Surgeons will perform many procedures at The Bristol-Myers Children's Hospital,such as repairs to obstructed aortic valves, atrial septal defects or other congenital abnormalities of heart valves and chambers. In addition, many procedures will be carried out by interventional cardiologists in the cardiac catheterization lab, said Dr. Welton M. Gersony, the Director of the Pediatric Cardiovascular Center at the Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York-Presbyterian and the Alexander S. Nadas Professor of Pediatrics at Columbia University MedicalCenter, who will oversee The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Hospital pediatric cardiovascular program. For rare and complicated cases, the Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York-Presbyterian facilities will be available. By aligning a new program with an established program, patients and their families can be assured of the best possible medical care at all times, he added.

The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital

The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital is New Jersey's largest free-standing, state-designated acute care children's hospital. A member of the National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions (NACHRI), the hospital serves the health care needs of children from New Jersey and beyond. The hospital's partnership with UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Children's Specialized Hospital, an affiliate member of the Robert Wood Johnson Health System, brings the full spectrum of comprehensive pediatric specialties and sub specialties and nationally recognized services to pediatric patients throughout the state. As home to the region's first pediatric intensive care unit and only Level I Trauma Center with a pediatric commitment, the children's hospital is uniquely qualified to handle the most life-threatening illnesses or injuries. Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, one of the nation's leading academic health centers, is the principal hospital for UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, The Cancer Institute of New Jersey, and The Robert Wood Johnson Health System and Network. Its New Brunswick medical campus is home to The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, The Cancer Hospital of New Jersey and numerous Centers of Excellence including the Heart Center of New Jersey, the Center for Digestive Diseases, The Heart Failure and Transplant Program and The Center for Kidney and Pancreas Transplantation.

UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

As one of the nation's leading comprehensive medical schools, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School is dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in education, research, health care delivery and the promotion of community health for the residents of New Jersey. The medical school, with 2,500 full-time and volunteer faculty, maintains educational programs at the undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate levels for more than 1,500 students, as well as continuing education courses for health care professionals and community education programs.

Children's Hospital of New York-Presbyterian

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is home to one of the world's leaders in pediatric care, the Children's Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian, which includes Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital affiliated with Columbia University College of Physicians Surgeons and Children's Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian at Weill Cornell affiliated with Weill Medical College of Cornell University. Together, as the largest provider of children's health services in the tri-state area, they offer the best available care in every area of pediatrics including the most complex neonatal and critical care, and all areas of pediatric surgery and surgical subspecialties. The long history of the Children' s Hospital of New York-Presbyterian includes many firsts and noteworthy achievements, including the first successful pediatric heart transplant; the first center for the study and care of premature infants; pioneering work in thalassemia; the first institution in the mid-Atlantic region to provide radiofrequency ablation therapy for adolescents with intractable arrhythmias; the founding of the fields of pediatric neurology and radiology; the first description of battered child syndrome; the development of the Apgar scoring system for the assessment of newborns; the first pediatric AIDS Comprehensive Care Center designated by the New York State Department of Health; and the first Pediatric Intensive Care Unit in New York City specifically designed and constructed for the needs of critically ill children.

College of Physicians Surgeons of Columbia University Medical Center

Established in 1767, Columbia University College of Physicians Surgeons (PS) was the first institution in the country to grant the M.D. degree. Among the most selective medical schools in the country, PS receives approximately 4,000 applicants annually for 150 positions in the freshman class. The school is also home to the largest medical research enterprise in New York State and one of the largest in the country. The faculty of the College of Physicians Surgeons were instrumental in forging the world's first academic medical center, now known as Columbia University Medical Center. With a student population of 625 M.D. candidates, 71 M.D./Ph.D. candidates, and a distinguished full-time faculty of 2,161, PS continues to be a leader in medical education and biomedical research.