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CLEVELAND – President George W. Bush announced the appointment of Michael R. Anderson, M.D., pediatric critical care specialist at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital, as a member of the National Commission on Children and Disasters.

The Commission, established in 2007, will be comprised of 10 members and is charged with conducting a comprehensive study to examine and assess the needs of children in preparation for, response to and recovery from all hazards, including major disasters and emergencies. A final report will be submitted to the President and Congress with specific recommendations to address the needs of children.

“It is imperative that we take a closer look and become more adequately prepared to handle the unique needs of children in future disasters, and I am honored and thrilled to be named by the President to this Commission,” said Dr. Anderson. “This crucial initiative by the Bush Administration and Congress will help insure the safety and future of our nation’s most important asset – our children.”

CLEVELAND – University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital is expanding its services for psychiatric patients, thanks to a $5 million grant from The Elisabeth Severance Prentiss Foundation. The gift, received in 2004, included funds for an inpatient psychiatric unit in the Horvitz patient tower at Rainbow and for research to advance treatment. The inpatient unit construction is now complete, and ready to serve this important patient group.

The new 14-bed unit led by Noah Miller, MD, director of inpatient psychiatry, will feature a partitioned activity/dining area, group therapy room and two patient lounges to be used in a variety of program tracks depending on patient need. Admission to the unit requires patients to meet specific diagnosis and acuity criteria and/or court-ordered inpatient treatment.

“The inpatient unit adds significant opportunity for us to help those children most at need for psychiatric help,” said Dr. Miller. “Unfortunately, more and more children and teens are requiring more in-depth psychiatric services and hospitalization. We know this unit will fill-up quickly, and adding this hospitalization option to our current psychiatry program integrates superior patient care, training of future mental health professionals and pioneering evidence-based clinical research to advance treatment outcomes.”

CLEVELAND – Leona Cuttler, MD, Chief of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism and Director of the Center for Child Health & Policy at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital has been appointed as the inaugural chair holder of the William T. Dahms Chair in Pediatric Endocrinology.

Dr. Dahms worked at Rainbow as a pediatric endocrinologist for 28 years, before passing away in 2006. His career was dedicated to clinical research, primarily in childhood diabetes, and he was division chief of pediatric endocrinology for several years. The chair was established in recognition of Dr. Dahms’ long-standing commitment and devotion to caring for children with endocrine disorders. Dr. Dahms recruited Dr. Cuttler to Cleveland in 1990.

“William Dahms was a wonderful person and a great endocrinologist. I have unbounded respect for what he brought to Rainbow, to the Division of Endocrinology, and to the field.” said Dr. Cuttler. “This chair, in his name, is a great honor for me.”

CLEVELAND – Holiday feasts and cookie making with the kids are part of many family traditions for celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwaanza. Parents, grandparents, and aunts and uncles are keen to pass along their holiday traditions and children are eager to lend a hand with the holiday preparations, but University Hospitals’ Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital experts wants parents to remember it is important to practice some basic rules for keeping children safe in and around the kitchen.

Children in the kitchen need close adult supervision at all times, whether they are helping to cook or just watching. “Simply being in the same room as a child is not necessarily supervising,” notes Walter Chwals, MD, Director of Rainbow’s Level I Pediatric Trauma Center. “An actively supervised child is in sight and in reach at all times.”

For the first three years, these women worked by aiding “worthy” destitute families, furnishing them with food and clothing, and helping them to pay rent and find employment. In 1891, they raised enough money to fulfill their dream and opened Rainbow Cottage, a healthy place for children to recover from illness. Rainbow Cottage changed its name to Rainbow Hospital for Crippled and Convalescent Children in 1914.

CLEVELAND – As the holiday season kicks into full gear, parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles will be scouring toy stores for the perfect gifts for the children in their lives. With the recent wave of toy recalls—including some of the most trusted brand names in the toy world—buyers may be wondering how to make safe choices, but lead-related worries are only one issue in toy buying.

According to data from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, 20 children under the age of 15 died of toy-related injuries during 2005. Half of all fatalities involved choking or asphyxiation related to small toys or pieces that broke off from toys. “When shopping for children under age 3, avoid toys with small parts, which can cause choking,” advises Dr. Edward Barskdale, Division Chief of Pediatric Surgery at Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital. Shoppers should read labels carefully and heed age recommendations: if a toy is labeled ‘not recommended for children under age three,’ parents need to take that warning seriously. “You may think your two-year-old is more advanced than the average child,” notes Kathryn Wesolowski, Manager of the Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital Injury Prevention Center, “but even the brightest babies and toddlers explore by placing things in their mouths. Thinking that your child is the exception to the rule can lead to tragedy.”

CLEVELAND – The Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital Injury Prevention Center and Safe Kids Greater Cleveland want to remind parents that October 31 is one of the most dangerous days of the year for child pedestrians. The combination of darkness, costumes that can obscure vision and general excitement can lead to heightened risk for child pedestrians. To keep kids safe, parents should remind them about the rules of the road and ensure that they will be seen by drivers this Halloween.

A study of child pedestrian deaths from 1975 through 1996 by the Centers for Disease Control found that fatalities were four times higher on Halloween evening (4 pm through 10 pm) compared to all other evenings. Thanks to coordinated injury prevention efforts nationwide, heightened public awareness, and the increased use of safety materials like retro reflective tape on bags and costumes, the child pedestrian fatality rate has dropped from the 1970s and 1980s, but a review of national crash data from 2000 through 2005 by researchers at Rainbow still found that the average number of child pedestrian fatalities on Halloween night is three times the average for all other evenings.

“Parents need to remind kids about safety while walking before they go out trick-or-treating,” says Dr. Walter Chwals, Director of the Rainbow Pediatric Trauma Center. “Children should bring flashlights or glow sticks with them, carry reflective bags or have reflective tape on their costumes, and not wear masks that may inhibit their ability to see hazards. Ensuring kids are seen this Halloween is essential to keep this holiday fun for everyone.”

CLEVELAND – University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital is hosting a health forum with Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones on Saturday, September 15, 2007 from noon until 2:00 p.m. to discuss with parents and children “the trinity issues” of obesity, diabetes and nutrition. The program will feature Rainbow’s Healthy Kids Healthy Weight program in an interactive exercise session with the Congresswoman and participating children and families.

“We are so pleased to be teaming up with Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones to help educate children and families about the obesity epidemic that is adversely impacting our youth,” said Fred C. Rothstein, M.D., President, University Hospitals Case Medical Center. “Rainbow’s Healthy Kids Healthy Weight is a premier program in the area that makes it fun for kids to change their diet and start exercising, and our team of superior physician scientists is leading the way in obesity and diabetes research with projects like the TODAY study. We are proud to participate in this educational and informative session with the Congresswoman and the community.”

CLEVELAND – University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospitals has ranked best in the Midwest and #5 in the country in U.S.News & World Report’s first stand-alone “America’s Best Children’s Hospitals” issue which features a detailed ranking of the finest pediatric facilities in the United States. The exclusive data will be published in the magazine’s September 3 issue, on newsstands Monday, August 27, and is available online today at health.usnews.com/pediatrics.

While, in the past, pediatric hospitals have been ranked based on reputation alone in the magazine's annual America’s Best Hospitals issue, this expanded children's hospital ranking is based not only on reputation, but also on data and statistics about hospital performance and quality of care.

“We are very pleased and proud to be consistently ranked among the best children’s hospitals in the country,” said Fred C. Rothstein, MD, president & CEO of University Hospitals Case Medical Center. “The changes in methodology this year, and the new stand-alone issue make this honor even more prestigious, and we know ranking among the top five is truly a testament to the compassionate care and dedication of the talented staff at Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital.”

CLEVELAND – Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital at University Hospitals Case Medical Center announced today the creation of the Jennifer Ferchill Brain Tumor Center, established through a significant leadership gift from the John and Sharon Ferchill family. The hospital will honor the Ferchill family for their generosity and officially launch the Jennifer Ferchill Brain Tumor Center with a reception on July 17, 2007 at Rainbow.

“We lost our daughter, Jennifer, 25 years ago to a brain tumor,” said Cleveland-based real estate developer John J. Ferchill. “With this center dedicated to her memory, Jenny’s legacy will inspire hope for patients and their families for generations to come.”

Brain tumors are the most common form of pediatric cancer, and despite advances in recent years, brain tumors have surpassed leukemia as the leading cause of cancer death in children.

CLEVELAND – University Hospitals Case Medical Center’s Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital has appointed Edward M. Barksdale, Jr., MD as the new chief of pediatric general surgery. Dr. Barksdale will be the first holder of the Robert J. Izant, Jr., MD Chair in Pediatric Surgery.

“We are honored and fortunate to have Dr. Barksdale join our team and lead the pediatric general surgery division. He is the perfect candidate to be the first physician to hold the Izant chair,” said Jeffrey L. Ponsky, MD, chairman of surgery, University Hospitals Case Medical Center. “He brings tremendous talent and passion with him, and he will help take Rainbow’s surgical expertise to an even higher level of patient care and service.” Dr. Barksdale’s recruitment is consistent with University Hospitals’ investment in surgical innovation as a component of the Vision 2010 strategic plan.

CLEVELAND – Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital, in partnership with Ireland Cancer Center, at University Hospitals Case Medical Center is starting off the new year with a special focus on teen and young adult cancer thanks to a $1.5 million gift from Char and Chuck Fowler in memory of their daughter, Angie, whom they lost to melanoma when she was 14, 25 years ago.

The gift funds the first endowed chair in the United States for adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer, and the Angie Fowler Adolescent and Young Adult Treatment Suite in the new cancer outpatient space being built at Rainbow.

Cleveland — Over the river and through the woods…that trip to Grandma’s house for Thanksgiving dinner can mean snow, ice, wet roads, and lots of traffic. As the holiday travel season approaches and winter kicks into full gear, it is more important than ever for parents to think about how they are transporting their littlest family members. As cold, wet weather forces families indoors, it is also a perfect time for parents and children to visit The Children’s Museum of Cleveland (CMC) and learn about staying safe in and around cars in a brand new interactive transportation safety exhibit to be unveiled in a ceremony at The Children’s Museum of Cleveland at 11:30 a.m. on Monday, November 20.

“Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death and injury for children over the age of one,” notes Kathryn Wesolowski, Manager of the Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital Injury Prevention Center. “Being restrained in a vehicle—with car seats for infants and toddlers, booster seats for other young children, or seat belts for older children and teens—is the best means of reducing risk of injury, yet only 1 in 3 children treated in Ohio trauma centers for injuries sustained in motor vehicle crashes is restrained.”

CLEVELAND -- University Hospitals Health System today announced a $10 million gift from The Elisabeth Severance Prentiss Foundation.  The Foundation has designated $7 million to support the new Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital, and $3 million for further development of The Neurological Institute at University Hospitals.

"The plans that UH has outlined for the future of the hospital system in its Vision 2010 growth strategy are among the best we have ever seen," said Elisabeth Severance Prentiss Foundation trustees in making this gift. "We hope our philanthropic investment will inspire others in the community to step up and join us in supporting University Hospitals in its efforts to raise healthcare to new heights in Northeast Ohio."