Delta Dental of Tennessee’s charitable arm, the Smile180 Foundation, has made a $1.075 million commitment to the Cleft and Craniofacial Program at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.
Monroe Carell will use the funds to establish the Delta Dental of Tennessee’s Smile180 Foundation Directorship for the Cleft and Craniofacial Program and to provide critical support as the program seeks to expand its services to care for more young patients and their families.
The commitment expands on Delta Dental’s longstanding support of Monroe Carell. Since 2001, Delta Dental and Smile180 have donated more than $2.3 million to the hospital and supported various fundraising events and initiatives.
This program cares for patients with a wide range of facial differences and is led by Michael Golinko, MD, medical director of the Cleft and Craniofacial Program and chief of Pediatric Plastic Surgery, along with Jim Phillips, MD, co-director of the Cleft Lip and Palate team. The complexity of this team’s cases means that patients often stay with the program for multiple years and require care from an integrated team of specialists.