Vanderbilt University Medical Center has received the Tennessee Department of Health’s (TDH) BEST for Babies award, which celebrates hospital efforts to reduce infant death and to give babies and their families the best possible start.

Leslie McDaniel had never had surgery in her life and was apprehensive. Bethany Lafata, 10, is already an expert at preparing for surgery, so she shared encouragement and advice.

Michael Golinko, MD, has joined Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt as assistant professor of Plastic Surgery, medical director of the Cleft and Craniofacial Center and chief of Pediatric Plastic Surgery.

A place to walk, think, meditate, pray and let go

Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt broke ground Oct. 29 on a new 37,500-square-foot facility that will significantly expand pediatric specialty care, outpatient surgery and imaging services to children in Rutherford and surrounding counties.

Each October, as Missy Cook helps unload trailers full of bright, plump pumpkins with hundreds of volunteers, she’s reminded why the Cooper Trooper Foundation Pumpkin Patch exists — because her son, Cooper, 10, is alive after surviving a rare cancer that was found when he was just 8 weeks old.