Vanderbilt Health was the first to use this technology in Tennessee in 1989, with the first patient placed on ECMO in the neonatal intensive care unit. The pediatric program is one of the largest and most successful programs in the world.

Squid, a facility dog at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, helped relieve Porter Pickett’s anxiety throughout cancer treatment.

The designation by the Society of Hospital Medicine recognizes physicians whose careers have been marked by outstanding leadership, service, innovation and lasting contributions to hospital medicine and health care.

Michelle Gontko, BSN, RN, works in the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care unit at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. She is one of the latest Vanderbilt Health DAISY Award winners.

Six medically important tick species live in the state, and many Tennesseans encounter ticks in their own yard or neighborhood. Perhaps attributable to changing weather patterns and rising temperatures, Vanderbilt Health’s Emergency Medicine physicians around the region began treating patients with tick bites in March this year.

Vanderbilt Health’s philosophy is that the institution needs a way to support patients when they reveal that food is a struggle. Yet, it’s a hospital system not a food bank, so it looks to partners.

After a toddler’s alarming symptoms uncover hidden heart defects in four siblings, coordinated care at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt sets two brothers on a path to lifelong health.