A collaboration between and Cincinnati Children鈥檚 Hospital Medical Center brings together the expertise of Kentucky鈥檚 top hospital and one of the country鈥檚 best children鈥檚 hospitals to create one of the top pediatric heart programs in the country, according to U.S. News & World Report.
Entering its fifth year, the innovative follows the one-program, two-sites model, which means pediatric cardiology experts and a team of pediatric heart surgeons at Kentucky Children鈥檚 Hospital benefit from the support of other pediatric heart specialists at Cincinnati Children鈥檚 to provide a full spectrum of children鈥檚 cardiology services. This collaboration provides Kentucky families with the reassurance of knowing they have access to exceptional heart treatment for children close to home.
is chief of pediatric cardiac surgery and director of the Joint Pediatric Heart Care Program. Backer joins KCH from the Ann & Robert Lurie Children鈥檚 Hospital of Chicago, where he served as the surgical director of the pediatric heart transplant program and the A.C. Buehler Professor of Surgery since 2001. He has been an attending surgeon in the division of cardiovascular-thoracic surgery since 1988, and served as head of that division from 2008 to 2018.
On this episode of "Behind the Blue," Backer talks about the state of the program on its fifth anniversary, the importance of the program for the people of Kentucky and more.
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