Inside Pediatrics Spring 2025

A t Children’s of Alabama, innovation is at the center of what we do. We are always searching for—and creating—new ideas to help treat our patients more effectively. In this issue of Inside Pediatrics, you’ll read about some of these ideas and see the difference they’re already making. In many cases, innovation comes in the form of new technology. Our neonatology team, for example, developed a device that uses sound waves to measure lung function in premature babies. They hope it will one day become the standard of care in hospitals everywhere. Meanwhile, our heart team is using flow restrictor devices to treat newborns with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. They allow patients to postpone surgery until their bodies are ready for it. Sometimes, innovating simply means taking a new approach. We did that by adding a new mental health safe space to our emergency department two years ago, and it’s already paying off. We call it the Nature Hall, and it serves patients in the midst of a mental health crisis. Since the space opened, we’ve dramatically decreased the average length of stay for these patients. In hematology and oncology, one clinic is innovating—and thus improving care— through teamwork. Our Neurofibromatosis and Schwannomatosis Clinic is using a

Tom Shufflebarger, President and CEO

multidisciplinary approach to treat patients with this complex genetic disorder. Clinicians are working to streamline patient care, and they’re expanding their research to learn more about how to effectively treat patients with this condition. Big ideas are nothing new at Children’s of Alabama. In this issue of Inside Pediatrics, you’ll see some of our latest. They’re more examples of how We Are Here for patients in Alabama and beyond.