The Ripple Effects of Better Health
Celebrating a Decade 70 Years in the Making
Celebrating a Decade 70 Years in the Making
Since opening one decade ago, Nemours Children’s Hospital, Florida has been part of a sea change in children’s health. Bringing unique programs to millions of Central Florida families, providing innovative care to our region’s most medically challenged children, and ensuring a pipeline of pediatric specialists across the state. We’ve focused on prevention as much as cures while working hand in hand with educators, child advocates and policymakers to find new ways to deliver services to communities who need them.
Ten years on, this journey to turn the tide for Florida’s children is taking health care where it’s never been before. And, while we celebrate how far we’ve come, it’s not even close to how far we’ll go to ensure every child’s world is a place for them to thrive.
1936
The Nemours Foundation was founded.
With a single act of charity from our beloved founder, Alfred I. duPont, the legacy of Nemours Children’s Health and the promise of healthier generations of children was cemented in perpetuity through the incorporation of The Nemours Foundation in Florida in 1936.
1940
The Alfred I. duPont Institute opens in Wilmington, Delaware.
In the decades since, the organization today known as Nemours Children’s Health has grown to become one of the nation’s leading advocates and changemakers for children’s health based on its experience as the largest pediatric health system solely dedicated to children.
1981
Nemours Children’s Health expands to Florida.
Nemours Children’s Health acquires Hope Haven Children’s Hospital in Jacksonville, the first
efforts to bring our health services to Florida.
1984
Nemours Children’s Hospital, Delaware completed (Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children).
Nemours Children’s Hospital, Delaware, the first free-standing children’s hospital in the state of Delaware, serves as our system’s anchor and paved the way for much success in building and growing Nemours Children’s Hospital, Florida.
1991
Nemours Children’s Clinic: Jacksonville, Orlando, Pensacola.
Over the next two decades, Nemours Children’s develops a pediatric specialty practice that brings unprecedented access to services for hundreds of thousands of children with chronic, complex and serious illnesses, reducing the need to travel and keeping them closer to home.
2008
Nemours Children’s Health receives regulatory approval to begin construction of a children’s hospital in Orlando, Florida.
Clearing this major regulatory hurdle set in full motion the massive planning and design activities required to create the new children’s health campus. To help achieve our vision of a top-tier children’s health system anchored by a children’s hospital and integrated physician practice, management assembled a team of leading architects, engineers, consultants, and clinical experts from some of the country’s leading children’s hospitals.
2009
Nemours Children’s Health celebrates the groundbreaking.
On February 25, 2009, Nemours Children’s Health celebrated the groundbreaking for the 95-bed hospital, to include 82 acute care beds, 13 neonatal intensive care unit beds, an emergency department, as well as integrated specialty clinic, outpatient services wing and community services facilities.
2010
Academic Affiliation Agreement executed with The University of Central Florida (UCF), College of Medicine.
Additionally, a memorandum of understanding provided the framework for future affiliations with other schools at UCF.
Roger Oxendale, MBA, hired as Executive Leader of Nemours Children’s Hospital, Florida.
Barbara Meeks, RN, MSN, MBA, hired as first Chief Nurse Executive of NCH, Florida.
Topping Off Ceremony.
Nemours associates, construction workers, family advisory council, community leaders and families were all invited to join in the celebration.
Preview Center opens for associates (Opened to Public Feb. 2011).
Additionally, a memorandum of understanding provided the framework for future affiliations with other schools at UCF.
2011
Nemours Children’s Hospital, Florida, Preview Center opens to the public.
During 2011, 2,449 individuals including donors, educational and community partners as well as federal, state and local government, non-profit and professional associations toured the Preview Center. Hundreds of prospective associates and physicians also toured during 2011.
Teen Advisory Council launched to complement the Family Advisory Council and played an active role in the design of the hospital.
A “virtual” hospital environment was created in partnership with Lockheed Martin to enhance the onboarding, training and development process for associates.
2011 Awards & Recognition
- Florida Hospital Association, “Community Benefit Achievement” Award to Florida Prevention Initiative
- Florida Hospital Association, “Innovation of the Year in Patient Care” Award for Nemours One (EMR)
- Orlando Sentinel’s 2011 “Top 100 Companies for Working Families”
- Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission’s “William C. Schwartz Industry Innovation Award” for the Family Advisory Council
2012
Nemours Children’s Hospital, Florida opens.
Nemours Children’s Health became the only pediatric health system in the nation with two freestanding children’s hospitals. The state-of-the-art, 630,000-square-foot hospital anchors a 60-acre, fully integrated health campus that includes outpatient specialty care, a kids-only Emergency Department and extensive research and education facilities. Over the course of the five-day celebration, Nemours Children’s Hospital welcomed more than 10,000 people at seven distinct events.
Nemours Children’s Hospital, Florida earns the Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval® for Accreditation.
New specialties were added to the Central Florida practice including rheumatology, orthopedics, neurology, gastroenterology, cardiology, neurosurgery and ophthalmology.
Received 42 federal, non-federal and industry-sponsored research grants, 25 faculty funded, 40+ peer-reviewed manuscripts and 47 national/international presentations delivered.
2013
The Harvey & Carol Massey Foundation Pledged $500,000.
The Harvey & Carol Massey Foundation pledged $500,000 to establish and help fund a multi-disciplinary autism program — the Early Childhood Institute at Nemours Children’s Hospital, Florida.
Nemours Children’s Hospital achieved the highest Stage 7 level of certification for excellence in electronic health record adoption by HIMSS.
Collaborating hospital partnerships in Central Florida grew in number to six.
Funded 223 Handtevy Pediatric Boxes for Orange County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) customized pediatric resuscitation and drug-dosing system.
Nemours Children’s Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders (NCCBD) received a two-year, $1.2 million grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the NIH, to establish the Nemours Children’s Community Clinical Oncology Program (CCOP).
2013 Awards & Recognition
- Florida Hospital Association, “Leadership in Quality & Patient Safety” Award for the Clinical Logistics Center
- Central Florida March of Dimes’ Nurse of the Year Awards, Kirsi Duran and Kim Reblock
- Orlando Sentinel’s 2013 “Top 100 Companies for Working Families”
- U.S. Green Building Council LEED® Gold Certification for Environmental Stewardship
- Associated Builders & Contractors, “Excellence in Construction” Project of the Year, Best Health Care Project
- Symposium Distinction Awards, User-Centered Award
2014
Named a “Top Hospital” by The Leapfrog Group.
Nemours Children’s Hospital, Florida named a Top Hospital by The Leapfrog Group — the only children’s hospital in the Southeast to garner this recognition
Created a Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) Center of Excellence and expanded early autism intervention program, orthopedic limb lengthening and deformity, sports medicine and cochlear implant services.
Nemours Children’s launched an urgent care practice in central Florida.
Implemented telehealth transport in partnering hospitals, enabling physician consultation prior to transport via telehealth technology.
American Lung Association (ALA) selected Nemours Children’s Hospital, Florida as the #1 site based on clinical trial recruitment, scientific productivity including grant writing and publications, leadership in the association and mentoring of junior investigators.
Nemours Research Institute established at the University of Central Florida (UCF) Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences.
Nemours Children’s Florida Prevention Initiative launched Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC) Training for staff and launched an annual conference drawing participants from around the world.
2014 Awards & Recognition
- The Leapfrog Group, “Top Hospital” (1 of 9 in the U.S.)
- Emergency Nurses Association, “Lantern Award”
- HealthCare’s “Most Wired”
- Central Florida March of Dimes’ Nurse of the Year Awards, TJ Weaver and Lori Shea
2015
Pediatric Telehealth.
Nemours Children’s Health launches the first direct-to-consumer pediatric telehealth service with 24/7 online access to board-certified pediatricians and pediatric specialists.
Nemours Children’s Health received an $850,000 grant from the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to conduct clinical research studies using PEDSnet.
A new hospital collaboration is formed with Lakeland Regional.
Our footprint continued to grow throughout Central Florida with expanded specialty locations in Daytona and Lakeland, a primary care network of 24 pediatricians at 13 locations.
First annual Hot Topics in Pediatrics hosted in Orlando, bringing more than 200 pediatricians from across the U.S.
Nemours Children’s Hospital, Florida, launched its Annual School Health Conference.
2015 Awards & Recognition
- Becker’s Hospital Review Names Nemours Children’s Hospital, Florida one of the “100 Great Hospitals in “America”
- Florida Hospital Association, “Innovation in Patient Care Award” for Emergency Department’s Path to Home program
- HealthCare’s “Most Wired”
- Press Ganey, “Guardians of Excellence” Award for 95th percentile or above in Patient Experience
- Emergency Nurses Association, “Lantern Award”
2016
Nemours Children’s Cardiac Center.
The Nemours Children’s Cardiac Center in Florida launched, serving everyone from outpatients to the highest complex cases. The Center hired more than 100 professionals for a new operating room, intensive care unit (ICU) and catheter lab at Nemours Children’s Hospital. Through the Center’s reach, this also enabled families access to 10 cardiology clinic sites throughout Florida —including through partnerships with regional hospitals.
United States Tennis Association selected Nemours Children’s as its official pediatric orthopedic/sports medicine provider at their Lake Nona campus.
A nine-bed Pediatric Inpatient Rehabilitation unit opened — the first such unit in a freestanding children’s hospital in the region.
Nemours Children’s Hospital, Florida expanded its Transport Services by hiring two full-time transport teams, a new pediatric ambulance, leasing two fixed-wing aircraft, and contracting for the use of helicopter services.
All 14 of our Florida primary care locations earned patient-centered medical home accreditation, making it the only primary care network in central Florida to receive this designation.
Asher becomes the 11th infant in the world to be treated with nusinersen for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) via a clinical trial at Nemours Children’s Hospital — one of only four sites in the world!
Nemours CareConnect partnered with Morning Star School to offer school-based telehealth services for their students with special needs.
2016 Awards & Recognition
- The Leapfrog Group, “Top Hospital”
- Florida Hospital Association, “Innovation in Patient Care Award” for CareConnect
- HealthCare’s “Most Wired”
- Emergency Nurses Association, “Lantern Award”
- Association of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Nurses, “Excellence in Clinical Practice” Award
2017
Residency Programs and Fellowships.
Accredited as an Institutional provider of graduate medical education (GME) by the national governing body, setting the stage for the Nemours Children’s Hospital Residency Program and fellowships.
Launched a Nurse (RN) Residency Program.
The Versant New Graduate Nurse Residency Program™ is a one-year program designed to help newly graduated registered nurses transition from students to competent professionals who help improve the quality and safety of patient care.
Nemours Children’s Fetal Care Center opened.
The Center collaborates with referring obstetricians to offer advanced maternal-fetal medicine and integrated perinatal management for high-risk pregnancies — without extended wait times.
Nemours Children’s Hospital and University of Central Florida researchers discover novel way to treat and destroy treatment-resistant tumor cells with curcumin.
Telehealth services provided at no charge to families impacted by the trifecta of Hurricanes Harvey, Maria and Irma.
Received two Florida Hospital Association Awards for Innovation in Patient Care (REACH) and Leadership in Quality & Patient Safety (Sepsis Scoring System)
2017 Awards & Recognition
- HealthCare’s “Most Wired”
- Emergency Nurses Association, “Lantern Award”
- Florida Hospital Association, “Leadership in Quality & Patient Safety” Award, Sepsis Scoring System
- Florida Hospital Association, “Innovation of the Year in Patient Care” Award, REACH Program
2018
6th Floor Buildout.
Nemours Children’s Hospital, Florida completed its 6th Floor buildout providing 30 additional critical care capable beds and dedicated space to create the Cardiac Center of Excellence.
R. Lawrence “Larry” Moss, MD, began his tenure as the third President & CEO of Nemours Children’s Health.
Hosted Health Summit for Early Childcare Education (ECE) Professionals.
Cardiac Center of Excellence at Nemours Children’s Hospital, Florida provided cardiac surgery services to 90 children through integrated care with our Pensacola specialty location.
PedsAcademy — the world’s first hospital-based “precision education” curriculum launched at Nemours Children’s Hospital, Florida in partnership with the University of Central Florida.
Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) is added to Florida’s newborn screening panel due to the successful clinical trial and FDA approval of Spiranza® (nusenersin) buoyed by Nemours Children’s Hospital-based research.
A study published by researchers from Nemours Children’s Hospital showed Zika destroyed most neuroblastoma cells that had been cultured in a lab.
LOXO-101 clinical trial showed progress — and promise — to combat tropomyosin receptor kinases (TRK) gene mutations for pediatric patients facing treatment-resistant cancers.
2016 Awards & Recognition
- HealthCare’s “Most Wired”
- Emergency Nurses Association, “Lantern Award”
- The Joint Commission, “Top of Class” Survey/On-Site Visit
- Florida Hospital Association, “Innovation of the Year” Award, Interventional Radiology 3D Printing Technology
- U.S. Surgeon General, “Angels of Maria” Award for Post-Hurricane Relief Efforts
2019
Inaugural Match Day.
Nemours Children’s Hospital welcomed first-ever class of 12 pediatric residents.
Opened the 40,000 square-foot Cardiac Center of Excellence at Nemours Children’s Hospital.
Mission Zero launched at Nemours Children’s Hospital with the Culture of Safety Leadership Summit.
Dedicated the Jennifer Lynn Schott Childhood Arthritis Clinic.
2019 Awards & Recognition
- The Leapfrog Group, “Top Hospital”
- Florida Hospital Association, “Innovation of the Year Award” for the Path to Home Program
- HealthCare’s “Most Wired”
- American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANNC), “Top 10 Program,” RN Nurse Residency Program
2020
Heart of Florida United Way.
The Heart of Florida United Way awarded “Change Makers of the Year” to Nemours Children’s Hospital Infectious Disease physicians Dr. Kenneth Alexander and Dr. Adriana Cadilla for their work to keep community and schools informed throughout the pandemic.
Infectious Disease experts from Nemours Children’s Hospital, Florida were relied upon for trusted information about COVID-19 throughout 2020 among school districts and with community partners.
Nemours Children’s Hospital, Florida began using its 3D printing capabilities to produce reusable face shields during the earliest supply chain issues created by COVID-19.
First Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) Conference held at Nemours Children’s Hospital, Florida.
Intravascular Ultrasound Unit opened at Nemours Children’s Hospital, Florida, a rarity in pediatric settings.
Nemours Children’s Hospital Pediatric Residency Program welcomed its second class of residents.
White Coats for Black Lives held a moment of silence at Nemours Children’s Hospital in solidarity of anti-racism.
Associates and Infectious Disease experts from Nemours Children’s Hospital, Florida supported the safe reopening of Give Kids the World in Orlando.
Precision medicine study by James Franciosi, MD, identified gene variants to help personalize long-term treatment of eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE).
The Disney Team of Heroes program is launched to enhance Child Life.
Nemours Children’s Hospital, Florida stored and distributed the COVID-19 vaccine to associates, partners and adults throughout the Central Florida community.
Don and Lorraine Freeberg Foundation donated funds to purchase and install six state-of-the-art Fujifilm radiograph machines in six of our community-based and outpatient clinic sites.
2020 Awards & Recognition
- The Leapfrog Group, “Top Hospital”
- The Downtown Orlando Partnership, “Golden Brick Award for Community Contributions” to Nemours Chlidren’s Health Florida Prevention Initiative
- AAAHC Accreditation for all 20 Nemours Children’s Primary Care locations
- AAAHC, “Quality Improvement Award” for Nemours Children’s Primary Care
- Heart of Florida United Way, “Change Makers of the Year” Award to Nemours Children’s Hospital, Florida, infectious Disease physicians Drs. Kenneth Alexander and Adriana Cadilla
2021
Future of Children’s Healthcare in Florida.
Nemours Children’s Health convened Florida’s first Future of Children’s Healthcare in Florida summit in partnership with the Florida Chamber of Commerce.
Nemours Children’s Health launched a Mobile Clinic conceived by second-year resident Laura Chilcutt, JD, MD, to provide vaccinations and fresh foods to children in underserved areas of central Florida.
Nemours Children’s Health and Lake Nona Hospital collaborated for newborn care in the adult hospital’s nursery.
PedsAcademy STEM Summer Camp launched at Nemours Children’s Hospital, Florida.
Nemours Children’s Health officially launched our new brand reflecting our bold strategy to redefine children’s health well beyond medicine.
Nemours Children’s Health’s expanded efforts to create the healthiest generations of children as the newest Florida Chamber Foundation Community Development Partner.
Our primary care practice is selected to join in Accelerating Child Health Transformations, a national effort to identify strategies that will lead to a transformation of health care for our nation’s children.
Dr. Cedric Von Pritchett, MD, medical director of the Cochlear Implant Program, helped introduce legislation to require all babies who fail a newborn hearing screening to be tested for cCMV (congenital cytomegalovirus).
TD Bank provided a seed grant to develop and implement a pilot program providing integrated and equitable behavioral health services for Nemours Children’s Primary Care, Central Florida.
2022
Alan H. Ginsburg and the Ginsburg Family Foundation.
Nemours Children’s Health celebrates a transformative $25 million gift from Orlando philanthropist Alan H. Ginsburg and the Ginsburg Family Foundation to create the Ginsburg Intitute for Health Equity at Nemours Children’s Health.