UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Partners with Wolfson Children’s Hospital of Jacksonville to Provide Cardiothoracic Surgery Services

Pittsburgh and Jacksonville, Fla., – UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh today announced a partnership with Wolfson Children’s Hospital of Jacksonville, that will enhance and expand specialized cardiac care for children in the North Florida/South Georgia region, as well as the entire Southeastern United States.

“We are grateful to partner with Wolfson Children’s Hospital to help establish an even higher level of cardiac care in the area, which will lead to improved outcomes for children with congenital heart disease,” said Victor Morell, M.D., chief, Division of Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery, UPMC Children’s. “We will be an extension to the Wolfson surgical team to offer life-saving cardiac treatment options for families in Florida and to help these kids achieve a better and brighter quality of life.”

Wolfson Children’s Hospital is the second member of the UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh’s Heart Institute network, joining St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital in Tampa. The network is led by Morell, who also is co-director of the Heart Institute at UPMC Children’s Hospital.

“For decades, our Terry Heart Center at Wolfson Children’s Hospital of Jacksonville has served children with congenital heart disease from throughout the region and has patient outcomes that are equal to or better than the national benchmarks tracked by the Society for Thoracic Surgeons (STS),” said Michael D. Aubin, president of Wolfson Children’s Hospital of Jacksonville. “With the growing population in North Florida, South Georgia and southern Alabama, as well as ever-advancing heart diagnostic capabilities, we are diagnosing and treating a higher incidence of congenital heart disease among the nearly one million children who live in the region we serve.”

“We recognized that we needed additional pediatric cardiac surgery resources and expertise to make our care even better,” added Aubin. “That’s why we chose to become a member of UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh’s Heart Institute Network.”

In addition to collaborating with Wolfson Children’s Hospital’s cardiac team to provide cardiothoracic surgery services, UPMC Children’s Heart Institute experts are providing support to patients, families and caregivers in Wolfson Children’s Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit via telemedicine. UPMC Children’s is a leader in the development of telemedicine services to meet the needs of young patients regionally and around the world with video conferencing technologies that provide complex pediatric cardiac care through remote and virtual examinations—whenever and wherever expertise is needed.

“The Heart Institute at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh is an outstanding, high-volume center that is recognized nationally for treating some of the most complex cardiac surgery cases in the country and the world,” said Michael S. Shillingford, M.D., chief of Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery at the Terry Heart Center at Wolfson Children’s Hospital. “In fact, they are among the top children’s hospitals in the country and ranked number 6 among U.S. News & World Report’s Best Children’s Hospitals for pediatric cardiology and heart surgery.”

“Likewise, UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh recognizes the value of a partnership with the Terry Heart Center at Wolfson Children’s Hospital, which has great outcomes and is recognized regionally for providing excellence in pediatric heart care,” added Shillingford. “We are bringing our wonderful, diverse and growing Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia demographic into the UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Heart Institute Network. This allows us to combine our collective 50+ years of heart surgery experience and expertise, as well as scientific and outcomes-based pediatric heart research, for the benefit of generations of families to come.”

This new affiliation agreement became effective December 15, 2018.