As Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist and Atrium Health continue integrating their respective institutions, the enterprise has reached an exciting milestone with its pediatric heart program. With a goal of creating a best-in-class heart program for patients across the Carolinas and beyond, physicians and teammates specializing in pediatric heart care at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Brenner Children’s and Atrium Health Levine Children’s are combining into one fully comprehensive team, working together to lead the region’s strongest pediatric heart program.
This united program, with a presence in both Winston-Salem and Charlotte, is a natural next step in the combination between Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist and Atrium Health, benefitting many pediatric heart patients and their families. Built upon the strengths and talents of each location, the new structure will allow for the seamless continuation of care for heart patients, their families and their support systems.
“We have collaborated with the Levine Children’s heart team for years and are now pleased to further combine our talents and expertise to provide leading-edge heart care to our young patients across our entire region,” said Derek Williams, D.O., section head of pediatric cardiology at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Brenner Children’s. “We are fully committed to creating a unified and world-class pediatric heart program to deliver the best possible outcomes for children and their families.”
The heart program at Brenner Children’s promotes a collaborative and multidisciplinary environment across the entire spectrum of care. The team of pediatric specialists combines experience, nationally recognized expertise and dedicated pediatric cardiac care to provide families with state-of-the-art options.
“As the integration between our two health systems moves forward, this provides a unique opportunity to reinvent and optimize our cardiac services for children,” said Joseph Paolillo, M.D., division chief of pediatric cardiology and medical director of the Congenital Heart Center at Atrium Health Levine Children’s. “This collaboration and growth for the congenital heart program ensures that no patient needs to travel outside of our region for heart care.”
The comprehensive heart program will offer everything patients need at the most appropriate location, with the most complex patients having direct access to Atrium Health Levine Children’s Hospital. Levine Children’s is home to an experienced heart program that has been ranked by U.S. News & World Report as a “Best Children’s Hospital” in cardiology and cardiovascular surgery for 12 consecutive years. The Charlotte-based hospital has a dedicated pediatric cardiac intensive care unit and a progressive care floor, serving as a “step-down” floor during recovery, with highly trained and dedicated teams.
As this combined pediatric heart program grows, additional specialists will be added to the team in Winston-Salem.
Offices in both regions are available for families who have questions about their child’s individual care. Those who would like information about each local office may contact:
Charlotte:
Winston-Salem:
WakeHealth.edu/Pediatric-Cardiology
Media contact:
Joe McCloskey, jmcclosk@wakehealth.edu