Clinical Sites: Connecticut Children’s Medical Center

Clinical Care

CCMC is the principal clinical site for the division but care is also provided at numerous locations throughout the greater Hartford area. At CCMC, we coordinate care for over 10,000 patients each year requiring elective and emergent surgery, MRI, CT scanning, invasive radiology, gastrointestinal procedures, cardiac catheterization, ABR testing and minor hematology/oncology procedures. Our anesthesia team cares for all types of routine pediatric surgery including outpatient ENT procedures, urologic surgeries and general surgery cases. Surgical anesthesia is also provided for complex operations in children such as congenital heart surgery, neurosurgery, craniofacial reconstruction, complex urologic reconstruction, orthopedic spine surgery and bariatric surgery. In addition we care for patients who need acute postoperative pain management including epidural and caudal analgesia 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. As part of the Trauma Team and Critical Airway Response Team (CART) we provide the coordinated care these patients need regardless of the location. Consultations are performed for severe pain problems and complex medical problems before surgery. Working with perioperative nurses and child life specialists we strive to make every visit as uncomplicated and stress free as possible. Our vision is to provide the most compassionate care with extraordinary expertise. For patients requiring MRI/MRA, Nuclear Medicine, Interventional Radiology or other services at Hartford Hospital we provide the necessary care and a familiar face for these patients. Neonates at John Dempsey Hospital are also provided the clinical expertise of our division for many of their urgent and elective surgical procedures. We encourage scholarly activity and incorporate new discoveries in order to continuously improve the quality of care.

Teaching

Although our history as a Division is relatively short it is steeped with the rich Anesthesia traditions established in Hartford during the last century. The spirit of innovative educational advances is incorporated into our daily practice and as a result we have become a center of pediatric education in southern New England. We serve as the main pediatric teaching arena for the University of Connecticut Anesthesia residency program. In addition we have residents from nearby programs who are attracted to CCMC for subspecialty training. Anesthesia residents rotate here during their Ca-2 year and then for electives during their Ca-3 year. Many of our residents choose to specialize in pediatric anesthesia and we are fortunate to attract them back to Connecticut for faculty positions. SRNA students from Connecticut’s two nurse anesthesia schools receive their pediatric training during rotations with our division. Several UCONN residencies use our division and CCMC to fulfill pediatric airway management competencies including Emergency Medicine, Pediatric Dentistry and Pediatrics. Emergency Medicine Fellows also spend time honing advanced pediatric airway skills with members of the Division as do Lifestar nurses.  Several members of the Division participate in the “state of the art” simulation exercises for our anesthesia residents. Dr. Garrison serves on the UCONN Department of Anesthesiology Education Committee. Our commitment to teaching extends beyond the borders of our country. Drs Rossetti, Kuntz and Kernisan have traveled worldwide to provide both anesthesia expertise and training. We have also been fortunate to have physicians from Germany spend time with us broadening our understandings of the similarities and differences in medical practice.

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