Programs & Services

The American College of Surgeons verified Nationwide Children's Hospital as Ohio's first Level I Pediatric Trauma Center in 1991. The hospital most recently obtained re-verification in March 2016.

As a Level 1 Trauma Center, we are one of a few hospitals with the specialized staff and facilities to manage and treat severely injured pediatric patients. Our program has a full range of specialists and surgeons available 24 hours a day. From preventive and educational programs to innovative research, we are striving to achieve best outcomes for every patient in our community.

The Burn Program at Nationwide Children's Hospital has been verified as a Pediatric Burn Center by the American Burn Association since 2003. Nationwide Children's Hospital is one of the few freestanding children’s hospitals nationwide to receive this type of verification.

Inpatients with burn injuries are cared for in a true multidisciplinary fashion. Patients and families are seen by burn surgeons, advanced practice providers, emergency medicine practitioners, intensivists, burn nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, nutritionists, psychologists, social service representatives, pharmacists, and case management representatives. Each team member is instrumental to the care and recovery of the child throughout their hospitalization.

The burn team cares for over 500 patients annually, both inpatient and in the burn clinic. The pediatric burn clinic has burn care providers, therapists, psychologist and burn nurses to ensure a continued multidisciplinary approach to the care of the outpatient thermally injured child. The dedicated burn surgeons provide acute operative interventions as well as reconstructive procedures for the burn survivor that reduce scaring and enhance their functional outcomes.

Our Burn Program offers the latest treatment options in burn care. Pediatric burn patients with significant scarring undergo treatment with laser therapy. This new treatment provides an additional option to traditional therapy of massage, compression and garments to address the needs of each individual with scars that affect their daily living.

Our Rehabilitation Program is located within our main campus facilities, a proximity that allows us to provide seamless care for all types of pediatric traumatic injuries.

Our approach to inpatient rehabilitation focuses on the path ahead, with every patient’s unique goals and environments in mind. Each rehabilitation plan matches the lives of the patients. This model — called outcome-oriented rehabilitation — relies on a partnership between patients, their families and our highly skilled team of therapists, nurses, physicians and social workers.

Our inpatient rehabilitation moved to a larger, newly developed space within the new main hospital in 2012, complete with a state-of-the-art therapy gym and rehab classroom. The program continues to maintain accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities as a Pediatric Specialty Program.

The Trauma Program team includes experts in orthopedic surgery who work closely with the emergency department and pediatric trauma surgeons to assess and prioritize multi-injury issues.

As the surgical director of Orthopedic Trauma, Allan Beebe, MD, leads the team in a non-traditional surgical management process where each day, there is an operating room, orthopedic surgeon and surgical support staff dedicated to treating the orthopedic cases that come in through the emergency department, streamlining the clinical management of trauma patients. In cases where extremity trauma is severe, the orthopedic team includes experts in plastic surgery, micro-vascular reconstruction and limb reconstruction and salvage. 

With pediatric trauma patients coming from over 30 counties, the high volume also provides surgeons with a robust archive of outcomes data and teams are able to conduct in-depth research into trauma surgery techniques, optimal healing conditions and infection control.

Under the leadership of Jeffrey Leonard, MD, an internationally recognized expert on the treatment of childhood brain tumors, the neurosurgery team closely partners with the trauma team to bring innovative new treatments to children with head injuries.

We offer the complete spectrum of multidisciplinary care for neurosurgical patients from birth to age 21. From our expert surgical team to our Level 1 pediatric trauma center, nationally ranked Neurosciences and Oncology services and CARF-accredited Pediatric Inpatient Rehab, we provide care for patients from initial consultation, through surgery, post-operative care, rehabilitation and beyond. By combining state-of-the-art operating facilities with some of the nation’s leading neurosurgical specialists, Nationwide Children’s can accommodate all patients, from those requiring the simplest procedures to those needing the most challenging interventions.

Our intraoperative MRI, advanced neurosurgical microscope system and stereotactic guidance offer surgeons critical tools to reduce the probability of multiple operations, utilize minimally invasive procedures when possible, increase overall surgical success, minimize pain and promote faster recovery.

The mission of Passenger Safety Program at Nationwide Children’s Hospital is to assist families in preventing injuries and fatalities by providing age-appropriate car seats to patients.  The Passenger Safety Program is staffed by a Child Passenger Safety Technician-Instructor with additional training in transporting children with special healthcare needs.  Our staff educates families throughout the hospital regarding proper use and installation of car seats.

In 2017, the Passenger Safety Program distributed 527 car seats, provided installation education on an additional 120 seats, and assisted with countless evaluations to assist in facilitating safe transportation of children with special healthcare needs.

Learn more about selection and installation of car seats from the experts.

Nationwide Children’s Hospital, with generous support from Kohl’s Cares®, sponsors a seasonal educational initiative to promote the prevention of the most common injuries seen in our emergency department – injuries that are leading causes of death for kids and parents.

“Safety for All Seasons” serves as a trusted source for research-based child injury prevention information. In 2014, the focus is helmet safety – keeping your brain safe throughout the year by using the right helmet for the right sport activity, while continuing to offer comprehensive safety tips.

Choosing the correct seat and installing it correctly are two of the most important things adults can do to keep the children in their lives safe. Not sure which seat is right? Click on our easy Car Seat Chooser app.