“Root of the Issue,” a new podcast from Root Cause Coalition, sat down with Amy Wimpey Knight, CHA’s president, and Angelo Giardino, M.D., Ph.D., chair and CMO at the University of Utah Department of Pediatrics and Intermountain Primary Children's Hospital, to discuss the transition in children’s health care.
“Our focus has shifted a little bit,” says Wimpey Knight. “I say with pride, children's hospitals have always done a great job of taking care of kids but we're starting to understand that issues are different and that we can still do better. So right now, we're spending a lot of time on mental health. That's not only a children's hospital issue, that's a community issue and we feel like we have a voice to speak on behalf of kids and families.”
Giardino added that pediatric providers are starting to shift focus from health care to children’s health. “Working with children and families and the communities that they live in, is much more important to focus on social health and emotional health,” says Giardino.
It’s important to understand the drivers and social issues for children that end up in hospitals, as well as the children that may never end up there. “Our role as children’s hospitals goes far beyond just the kids that are in our hospitals when you think about the research, discovery and teaching that goes on there and impacts kids everywhere,” says Wimpey Knight.
