Jack H. Crawford, M.D., Ph.D.The Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine is pleased to announce the establishment of the Division of Congenital Cardiac Anesthesiology. The new division represents a move to more fully align and integrate with other clinical divisions that provide care for congenital cardiac patients at Children's of Alabama, said Keith A. (Tony) Jones, M.D., chair of the department. “Because of the highly complicated nature of these surgical procedures, the faculty members who provide this care have become highly subspecialized,” Jones said. “Moving forward, they will be fully dedicated to congenital cardiac anesthesiology and will have their own space at Children’s.”
The new division, approved by the Board of Trustees on April 8, will be led by Associate Professor Jack H. Crawford, M.D., Ph.D., the inaugural vice chair and director. Crawford, who trained at the UAB School of Medicine and completed a fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital, said that the collaboration between UAB and Children’s led to the formation of the Bruno Pediatric Heart Center in 2012. “Improved survival and novel therapies have led to a rapidly growing population of patients with complex congenital heart disease,” he said. “The Division of Congenital Cardiac Anesthesiology will be a key piece to the therapeutic platform composed of Pediatric Cardiology, Cardiac Surgery, Adult Congenital Cardiology, and Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care.”
Dr. Yung R. Lau, M.D., director of the Division of Pediatric Cardiology and the Thomas N. Carruthers Endowed Chair in Cardiology, welcomed the new division. “The formation of the Division of Congenital Cardiac Anesthesiology is a welcomed step by all the stakeholders of the Pediatric and Congenital Heart Center at Children’s of Alabama. We see this as an important part of the evolving understanding that congenital heart disease is one of the unique and signature programs that UAB has,” he said. “Having dedicated Congenital Cardiac Anesthesia colleagues codifies the practice of focused multidisciplinary care of patients as well as research efforts that contribute significantly to the knowledge.”
The new division is the culmination of many years of hard work by anesthesiologists dedicated to the care of patients with congenital heart disease, Crawford said. “This new division will allow our specialized physicians to make sentinel research contributions, educate physicians, and provide specialized care for patients of all ages with congenital cardiac disease.”