Department of Pediatrics Annual Report – 2021

Sign that says "We Love NewYork-Presbyterian Heroes."

Clinical Care

Innovation and Respect for Every Child and Family

Department of Pediatrics faculty members provide exceptional, compassionate family-centered care to infants, children, and adolescents. We provide inpatient clinical care at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital and outpatient care through ColumbiaDoctors pediatrics locations throughout the New York City metropolitan area and through the NewYork-Presbyterian Ambulatory Care Network in the Washington Heights–Inwood community. As partners in Columbia University Children’s Health, a consortium of more than 400 pediatric specialists in 45 specialty areas, department members collaboratively offer the greatest depth and breadth of pediatric care in the region.

Empty hallway in Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital

A History of Firsts

A number of significant milestones in pediatric care stem back to the doctors and programs of Babies Hospital:

Diseases of Infancy and Childhood by L. Emmett Holt, MD, the first Babies Hospital medical director, was published in 1897 as the first modern textbook of pediatrics and became the definitive textbook for pediatrics for the next several decades.
Babies Hospital was the first U.S. hospital to use neonatal incubators.
The first pediatric radiology service was established in 1922.
Babies Hospital anesthesiologist Virginia Apgar, MD, created the Apgar Score in 1953, which was widely used to predict infant health.
Babies Hospital faculty members were the first to describe cystic fibrosis and to develop the widely used sweat test to detect the condition in 1959.
A team of Columbia pediatric surgeons and cardiologists performed the first successful pediatric heart transplant, in a 4-year-old boy in 1984.

NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital

The Department of Pediatrics is closely affiliated with our hospital partner, NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital. The hospital can trace its roots back to 1887, to the founding of Babies Hospital, the first dedicated hospital for children in New York City. Located in a brownstone on Lexington Avenue and 55th Street, the facility received its name because care was focused on the first three years of life, when children at that time were at most risk of death. In 1900, Babies Hospital affiliated with Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons to train new doctors in pediatrics.

In 1929, Babies Hospital moved to northern Manhattan to become part of what was then Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center (now Columbia University Irving Medical Center) in a new facility with 204 beds for children up to 12 years of age. In 1997, Presbyterian Hospital merged with New York Hospital to create NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, and in 2003, funded by a gift from investment bank Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, the new NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital took its place beside Babies Hospital. Equipped with the latest technologies and fostering a philosophy of family-centered care, the hospital offers the highest quality of care in every area of pediatrics, including all pediatric subspecialties.

NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital National Recognitions and Accreditations

Ranked among the top hospitals in the nation in the number of annual pediatric heart transplants, now performs about 30 heart transplants each year
Ranked in eight pediatric specialties in U.S. News & World Report’s "Best Children’s Hospitals" survey
Magnet Recognition Program designated by the American Nurses Credentialing Center
One of 33 extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) programs in the world designated as a Platinum Center of Excellence and the only Platinum-designated center in New York
Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center
American College of Surgeons-designated Level 1 Children's Surgery Center
Nationally accredited as a Comprehensive Center with Adolescent Qualifications in bariatric surgery

Pediatric Cardiology residents and faculty pose for picture in Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital

NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital Programs of Distinction

While NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital provides expert care by pediatric specialists and subspecialists from every area of medicine, the hospital is especially known for select programs that attract patients and families from across the country and around the world.

One of world's largest and most experienced pediatric heart programs
Internationally renowned pediatric transplant programs for heart, kidney, liver, and lung
New York State-designated Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID) Specialty Care Centers
The DISCOVER (Diagnosis Initiative: Seeking Care and Opportunities with Vision for Exploration and Research) Program for patients with rare diseases and complex conditions, as well as their families, has uncovered more than 40 new rare diseases
The Weinberg Family Cerebral Palsy Center provides patient education and care and helps patients transition from pediatric to adult care

A Commitment to Clinical Excellence

Generational Growth Plan: A new generational growth plan is in development to build upon the long legacy of excellence in caring for pediatric and obstetric patients at the Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital and Sloane Hospital for Women. This investment from NewYork-Presbyterian will modernize the hospital’s existing infrastructure and create next-generation experiences for our patients and their families. The goals of the growth plan include single bedded postpartum and NICU rooms, additional medsurg and PICU/NICU beds, new state-of-the-art operating rooms, and the relocation and enhancement of outpatient clinics and programs. Collectively, the generational growth plan will solidify the hospital’s position as a national leader and top tier institution for women and children.

Pediatric Collective Power Challenge: The Pediatric Divisions Collective Power Challenge is a collaboration between NewYork-Presbyterian Komansky Children’s Hospital and NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital pediatric leaders to accelerate children’s health research, education, and clinical care within the NewYork-Presbyterian system. These joint projects will create meaningful opportunities to ensure the tri-institutional goal to be best in pediatric care regionally and across the nation.

Pediatric Medical exam room at 15 North Broadway

ColumbiaDoctors

Department of Pediatrics faculty members are part of the Columbia University faculty practice organization, an initiative that involves 17 clinical departments, more than 230 medical specialties and subspecialties, and 1,800-plus physicians who provide care at 78 locations throughout the New York City metropolitan area. Pediatrics faculty members from almost every division provide care to children throughout the region, primarily at six locations:

NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital – Manhattan
51 West 51 Street – Manhattan
21 West 86 Street – Manhattan
11 East 86 Street – Manhattan
270 West 231 Street – Riverdale, NY
15 North Broadway – White Plains, NY

Clinical Care Locations for the Columbia Pediatrics Amulatory Care Network (ACN)

A Commitment to the Community

NewYork-Presbyterian’s Ambulatory Care Network (ACN) includes 15 pediatrics, family, and internal primary care practices throughout Manhattan that emphasize preventive health care and wellness. Through this network, pediatrics faculty and residents collaborate with NewYork-Presbyterian to provide affordable, patient-friendly primary care to children and families in the underserved communities surrounding Columbia University Irving Medical Center. In 2021, our department members participated in 39,250 pediatric visits at four upper Manhattan ACN locations:

Charles B. Rangel Community Health Center, 534 West 135 Street
Washington Heights Family Health Center, 575 West 181 Street
Audubon Primary Care Practice and Young Men’s Clinic, 21 Audubon Avenue
Broadway Practice, 4781-83 Broadway

NewYork-Presbyterian’s Ambulatory Care Network

Through NewYork-Presbyterian’s Ambulatory Care Network the hospital offers many specialty programs for children and adolescents of the surrounding area, including: