From birth through adulthood, patients with congenital heart defects need highly specialized care not offered at most hospitals. The Pediatric Heart Center at Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach is one of only a few programs in Southern California to offer comprehensive cardiac care to young patients, all under one roof, in one location, one heart at a time.
Every day, the dedicated Pediatric Heart Center care team diagnoses and provides pediatric heart disease treatment that ranges from stress testing, to non-invasive procedures, to open-heart surgeries. To perform congenital heart operations on patients of all ages — from the tiniest newborn infant, to the growing teen, all the way to adulthood — the Miller Children’s Pediatric Heart Center partnered with the renowned MemorialCare Heart & Vascular Institute at Long Beach Memorial to assemble a uniquely specialized team of professionals.
“We have established Miller Children’s as a congenital cardiac center that provides comprehensive care to the patient, family and community,” says Shaun Setty, M.D., medical director, pediatric and adult congenital cardiac surgery, Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach. “The care team is an expert collaboration of cardiology, anesthesiology, perfusion, intensive care, nursing and ancillary staff working as a team to heal a child’s heart.”
For the children who come to Miller Children’s with heart disease or congenital heart defects requiring cardiac surgery, Kirsti Catton, RNFA, MSN, C-NP, nurse practitioner for pediatric and adult congenital cardiac surgery, and Caroline Kwong, RN, MSN, C-NP, Pediatric Cardiac Nurse Specialist, work closely with board-certified surgeons to guide the patient through their hospital stay and to facilitate a smooth transition to home.
As an operating room first assist and certified pediatric nurse practitioner, Catton, works in partnership with the multi-disciplinary team and patient care providers to guarantee the highest standards of care for young cardiac patients and “make sure we are all working as a team to care for these children,” says Catton.
Before each surgery, Catton acts as a liaison between families and the cardiac care team by answering the questions of patient’s parents and raising any health concerns to the nurses and surgeons. Once each young patient leaves the hospital, the team lends a hand to ensure and maintain the key components to each child’s recovery. Specializing in the cardiac care of children, Kwong develops an individualized health plan to meet the needs of each patient and includes wound treatment, wellness and medication education and emotional support. The team’s tireless commitment to family-centered care, according to Kwong, is because “the patient is never just the child in front of me. My patient also is the parents and the family that need my help.”
To continue improving its brand of comprehensive care, the Miller Children’s Pediatric Heart Center added a new expert to an already prestigious team. Brandy Hattendorf, M.D., a board certified physician in pediatrics and pediatric cardiology, was recently named the medical director of Non-invasive Pediatric Cardiology to contribute her specialty knowledge in non-invasive imaging including transthoracic, transesophageal and fetal echocardiography to the tiny cardiac patients and their families.
With an attentive, supportive approach in mind, the growing Miller Children’s Pediatric Heart Center will allow the team to continue providing personalized care that is tailored to meet the needs of each patient and their family while offering the latest interventional and treatment options for young patients with congenital heart defects.