The mission of the Division of General Pediatrics is to improve the health and well-being of all children and people through the development of effective clinical service models, through preeminent research and outstanding professional education, and through community outreach, engagement and advocacy.

For more than 20 years, General Pediatrics flourished through the core network of participating community hospitals and clinics.

• University of Minnesota Children's Hospital, Fairview
• Children's Hospitals and Clinics -Minneapolis
• Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare
• Hennepin County Medical Center
• HealthPartners Clinics
• Regions Hospital

In 2007, General Pediatrics became its own division. General Pediatrics serves as the primary inpatient admitting service for patients with complex medical conditions and special health care needs, surgical patients (otolaryngology, ophthalmology, neurosurgery, orthopedics and general surgery), and patients with neurologic, metabolic, endocrine and rheumatic disease. This service is being greatly expanded to include a hospitalist program, which is envisioned to become a cornerstone of inpatient service at the University of Minnesota Children’s Hospital (to be completed 2010).

News

• Fairview Pain and Palliative Care Center wins excellence award The Fairview Pain and Palliative Care Center won a national Clinical Centers of Excellence in Pain Management Award from the American Pain Society. The University of Minnesota Medical Center program is among six centers selected for top-quality clinical care in pain management.

Clinical Services

The University-based faculty have responsibility for the:

University of Minnesota Children's Hospital, Fairview
(University and Riverside campuses) - Inpatient General Pediatrics services & Newborn Nursery

Global Pediatrics
Our Global Pediatrics program, one of the only programs of its kind in the country, is clinically focused on areas including international adoption, travel-related disease, immigrant and refugee health and infectious diseases of children in developing countries.

Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics
Begun in 1976, the Behavioral Medicine program was one of the first such clinical and training programs in the US. It serves as a consultation and referral source for families and physicians locally and throughout the Upper Midwest. It specializes in the evaluation and management of a wide variety of behavioral concerns, including offering training in computerized biofeedback, self-hypnosis, relaxation and mental imagery.

KDWB University Pediatrics Family Center
Activities at the center are focused on maximizing the developmental potential of all children by creating human environments that reduce risks and provide resources that contribute to child competence and well-being.

U Special Kids
The U Special Kids program helps the families of children with complex medical issues coordinate care with University specialists, community health care providers, families and others who care for the child, and dealing with common day-to-day problems such as prescription refills, minor illnesses, mental health issues, or questions from home care nurses, school nurses, or insurance companies.

Star Center for Family Health
Offers an interdisciplinary outpatient program for adolescents and young adults with eating disorders and weight management issues.

Community University Health Care Clinic
Community-University Health Care Center (CUHCC) opened its doors in 1966 to provide primary care services to children and low income families in South Minneapolis.

St. Joseph's Home for Children
St. Joseph's Home for Children cares for children in need by addressing immediate needs for shelter and stability and offering long-term solutions to emotional and behavioral issues.

International Adoption Medicine Program
This is the first clinic in the United States providing for the health needs of internationally adopted children through its clinic services, research, and education.

The Center for Safe & Healthy Children
The Center for Safe & Healthy Children at University of Minnesota Children’s Hospital, Fairview is dedicated to caring for possible victims of child maltreatment and preventing abuse and neglect in children and adolescents.

Palliative Care
University of Minnesota Children’s Hospital, Fairview offers pediatric palliative care consultation. These consults involve an interdisciplinary approach for addressing the physical, psychosocial and spiritual needs of children who were born with serious medical conditions or who develop serious illnesses during childhood or adolescence, and who are faced with complex and life-limiting conditions.

Training

Primary Care Fellowship in General Pediatrics

The academic faculty are responsible for medical student and pediatric resident training and faculty development. They provide oversight of resident rotations, including developmental pediatrics, adolescent health, behavioral and developmental pediatrics, an urban rotation, emergency medicine, and inpatient and ambulatory rotations in affiliated hospitals and clinics.

Research

Faculty are involved in research in the following areas:

Youth Violence Prevention
A collaboration with UCare Minnesota (a health maintenance organization that serves low-income families) to implement a telephone-based parenting education program and measure the impact of the program on interpersonal violence involvement among youth

Clinical Approaches to Prevent Health-Risk Behaviors Among Youth
A collaboraion with the American Academy of Pediatrics' Pediatric Research in Office Settings (PROS), a national network of pediatric practices involved in research, to conduct a randomized controlled trial of primary care based intervention to reduce mental health problems, violence and substance abuse among youth

Speical Populations: Special Health Care Needs, Chronically Ill - Transition Services, Case Management

Breastfeeding

Prevention of obesity

Community Outreach

Parents as Teachers

U Special Kids program is supported with legislative funding

Community Partnership for Foster Care Health
An interdisciplinary task force with the mission of creating a model of health care for children in foster care in Minnesota.

Autism Discussion Group
The group meets monthly, Mondays at noon at the Center for Neurobehavioral Development.

Community University Health Care Clinic
Offers a teen clinic every Wednesday and Thursday afternoon. The clinic serves diverse populations drawn primarily from the Southeast Asian, East African and Native American communities.

Youth Link
A drop-in clinic affiliated with a full-service center that assists homeless youth in stabilizing their lives.

Staff

Cindy Howard, MD, Director of General Pediatrics
Iris Borowsky, MD, PhD
Mary Chesney, MS, RN, CPNP
Abraham Jacob, MD
Harsohena Kaur, MD, MPH
Anne Kelly, MD, MPH
Daniel Kohen, MD
Gary Remafedi, MD, MPH
Leon Satran, MD
Peter Scal, MD, MPH
Nimi Singh, MD, MPH

Contact Us

General Pediatrics
Department of Pediatrics
University of Minnesota
717 Delaware Street SE
Minneapolis, MN 55414-2959
Phone: (612) 626-3087
TTY: (612) 624-3939
Fax: (612) 624-0997
E-mail: drcindy@umn.edu

Links

University of Minnesota Children's Hospital, Fairview
Children's Hospitals and Clinics - Minneapolis, St. Paul
Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare