This week, after years of planning, months of construction and weeks of anticipation, the new Lerner Children’s Pavilion on the 5th floor will begin accepting its first patients in the beds of our new private rooms. My colleagues and I could not be more excited.
For years we’ve worked hard to offer the very best pediatric orthopedics and rheumatology care to every child who has come through the hospital doors. HSS is committed to providing an exceptional environment in which these children can receive the care that they need. The Pavilion represents a milestone and a further testament to that commitment.
The opening of the Pavilion reminds us that HSS was founded in 1863 to treat children with disabilities. Although the hospital’s mission has expanded over the last century-and-a-half, it’s rewarding to know that the hospital has never deviated from this initial objective. Today young patients with numerous musculoskeletal disorders come from all over the world to seek our specialized care and attention.
Pediatric orthopedics has seen extraordinary growth over the last decade. As a result, our department at HSS has also grown to keep up with demand. In 2011, HSS treated close to 20,000 pediatric patients and performed more than 2,600 pediatric surgeries. The Pavilion was designed specifically so that amidst this growth, we could offer a “Children’s Hospital” experience – a hospital-within-a-hospital, really – along with our world-class technical expertise in orthopedics and rheumatology.
We are truly proud of the results. With its warm, environment and private rooms, the Pavilion allows children to recover as quickly and comfortably as possible. Moreover, we’re now able to consolidate all of our pediatricians, pediatric rheumatologists, surgeons, and pediatric rehabilitation specialists all in one facility – creating even better efficiencies in our care. Paired with our CA Technologies Rehab Center, which opened just last year, we’re able to offer pediatric patients and their families a superior hospital experience from surgery through rehabilitation.
HSS has a long history of technological advancements, and we are always looking ahead. As patients begin to rest comfortably in our new Children’s Pavilion, looking out onto sunny views of the East River, we look forward to making their futures just as bright.
Dr. Roger Widmann
has been a member of the Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgery Service at Hospital for Special Surgery since 1995 and the Chief of the Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgery Service since 2004. He is the Director of Pediatric Orthopaedic Trauma at New York Hospital, and is a member of the Scoliosis Service at Hospital for Special Surgery.
