On the Pulse

Admiral Rachel L. Levine, MD, U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health, made a rare visit to Seattle Children’s on Tuesday. Her visit included a tour of the Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine Unit (PBMU), Emergency Department and the Seattle Children’s Gender Clinic.  

Levine first met with PBMU leaders to discuss the national mental health crisis among adolescents. PBMU leaders described the significant increase they have seen in mental health-related visits to the emergency department, as well as an increase in youth suicide attempts/ideation. They told Levine how Seattle Children’s has developed innovative programs like the Behavioral Health Crisis Care Clinic to address the need we see every day in our Emergency Department. However, even with these innovations, the team can’t keep pace with the numbers of youth and families coming to our Emergency Department with mental health concerns.

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A five-part series highlighting the local artists commissioned to contribute original artwork to the new clinic 

This is part two of a five-part series. Tune in each Friday to see more of our featured local artists.

On March 7, 2022, Seattle Children’s new Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic (OBCC) opened the doors to begin serving patients from a second location in the Othello Square complex. In order to deepen the connection with the area, some 21 artists from the local community who are Black, Latinx or Indigenous were commissioned to contribute more than 30 pieces of original artwork in the new building. Using the guiding principles of art that would support health through nature, celebrate inclusiveness, cultivate wonder and joy, and celebrate and honor history, artwork was carefully selected and placed throughout the clinic to enrich the space. Take a journey below through the special artwork showcased throughout the clinic.  

Ari Glass 

Path to the Golden Age, 2021 – located in the dental waiting room

“Behold! This artwork serves as a continuation of the mural on the Othello Safeway I painted in collaboration with Craig Cundiff and Henry Luke. Guided by the Sun, endemic species of birds, flowers and animals reflect the people and cultures historically present in Othello. This mural was painted to reverberate a spirit of well-being and engage visitors in modes of play, rest, and discovery.” 

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Michael Willen is a champion for equity at Seattle Children’s and the winner of the 2021 Odessa Brown Ken Feldman Award.

When Michael Willen, art therapist, was growing up in Boulder, Colorado during the 1990s, he heard lots of talk about accepting those who were different from you. Reality, however, often didn’t align with the talk.

“You couldn’t be openly gay or talk about something like being transgender,” he recalls. “I wanted a community to connect with, but I didn’t have that resource until I went to college. I wondered why we couldn’t have more of that.”

These days, Michael is helping build an open, accepting community for students at the Alyssa Burnett Adult Life Center and inpatients at Seattle Children’s. His crowning achievement is Diversity Club, a class at the Alyssa Burnett Center that celebrates diversity and helps students become advocates for equity.

For these reasons, Michael recently received the 2021 Odessa Brown Ken Feldman Award, one of Seattle Children’s highest honors, which recognizes individuals or teams that encourage, promote, and display compassion and advocacy for all people.

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In 2016, Seattle Children’s extended their mobile extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) capabilities to provide the service to critically ill children during transport to the hospital from anywhere in a five-state region. ECMO is an advanced life-support therapy that functions for the heart and lungs when the organs fail or need to rest. Seattle Children’s became the first children’s hospital on the West Coast to offer mobile ECMO service, providing critically ill patients with life-saving cardiac, respiratory or transplant care while they are being transported to the hospital.

“The main reason we developed mobile ECMO is because it enables us to take care of kids over a very broad region and offer the same type of high-level medical care to the kids who are not fortunate to live near a hospital like Seattle Children’s,” said Dr. Michael McMullan, chief of Cardiac Surgery and director of mechanical cardiac support and extracorporeal life support services at Seattle Children’s, as well as an professor of surgery at the UW School of Medicine. “When we looked at data in Washington state, we found that kids who do not live near a hospital like ours are at a three-fold increased risk of dying of illness due to a lack of access to care.” Read full post »

A five-part series highlighting the local artists commissioned to contribute original artwork to the new clinic 

This is part one of a five-part series. Tune in each Friday to see more of our featured local artists. 

On March 7, 2022, Seattle Children’s new Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic (OBCC) opened the doors to begin serving patients from a second location in the Othello Square complex. In order to deepen the connection with the area, some 21 artists from the local community who are Black, Latinx or Indigenous were commissioned to contribute more than 30 pieces of original artwork in the new building. Using the guiding principles of art that would support health through nature, celebrate inclusiveness, cultivate wonder and joy, and celebrate and honor history, artwork was carefully selected and placed throughout the clinic to enrich the space. Take a journey below through the special artwork showcased throughout the clinic. 

Addie Boswell

The World’s Welcome, 2021 – located in the waiting room

“Designed to be welcoming for all, the waiting room has vibrant colors and nooks that function as ‘front porches.’ What if one of those front porches let the outside in? I started my mural as a window looking out into the neighborhood, but found an open door was even better. It is a beautiful day in Rainier Valley, and our heroine is ready to step out and join it.” Read full post »

The new clinic marks the second location for OBCC, expanding to serve patients where they are

Today, Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic (OBCC) Othello clinic opened its doors in the new Othello Square complex. Inside the 42,000 square-foot space, patients will have access to an innovative, integrated approach to care – where medical, dental, behavioral health, physical therapy and rehabilitation, nutrition services and more are available under the same roof, at the same appointment, if needed. And, as always, the clinic’s ‘Quality Care with Dignity’ mission means we care for each patient’s whole health regardless of a family’s ability to pay. The new OBCC Othello location brings these services closer to the 75% of our existing clinic families who have moved to south for more affordable housing.

“We are excited to be able to meet families where they are and making it more convenient to receive the services they need in a holistic way,” said Dr. Shaquita Bell, senior medical director, Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic. “If a patient makes an appointment for one issue, but another one arises, we will be able to provide those added services on the spot.”

With the support of donors who contributed more than $125 million to community health and wellness initiatives, Seattle Children’s invested $52 million to build this second OBCC location in south Seattle and approved a long-term financial support plan that includes $37.5 million in operational funds and a $125 million endowment. The support plan ensures OBCC’s financial health and mission to provide equitable pediatric care to current and future generations. Read full post »

Epilepsy can be very difficult to treat – and some families explore a range of options seeking relief from seizures for a child with epilepsy looking for a solution. For 14-year-old Taylor Johnson, a procedure known as deep brain stimulation (DBS) resulted in her experiencing a completely new life and the significant seizure relief she and her family have been trying to find.

In deep brain stimulation, a small battery-powered device sends low-level electrical signals through the brain. The device is similar to a pacemaker in that it uses electrical pulses to help regulate brain function. It can be programmed remotely to help regulate brain function and reduce seizures.

During surgery, a neurosurgeon places two thin electrical wires into deep brain tissue. The wires are connected to a small battery that can be controlled remotely to stimulate the area of the brain called the thalamus. The thalamus is the central point for relaying signals to other parts of the brain. Read full post »

Seth Wayne is a Seattle Children’s athletic trainer at Evergreen High School.

Did you know March is National Athletic Training Month? In recognition of Seattle Children’s incredible athletic trainers, we’re highlighting the tremendous role they play in helping athletes thrive on and off the field.

Across the greater Puget Sound region, nearly 50 athletic trainers from Seattle Children’s are embedded in 42 schools from Tacoma to Woodinville. They are with athletes at least five days a week – on the sidelines at games when most injuries occur, as well as in the gym or training facilities during practice. They provide sport-specific training and conditioning programs, as well as injury care for high school athletes. Athletic trainers help care for athletes from a wide array of sports, including football, soccer, lacrosse, gymnastics, wrestling, basketball, baseball, softball, track and field, tennis, golf, swimming, volleyball, cross country and roller derby. From helping tape ankles to suggesting specific exercises to decrease the risk of injury to communicating with orthopedic providers when catastrophic injuries occur, athletic trainers help support young athletes.

“We are the eyes, hands and ears of the care team and a liaison between the providers and patient,” said Seth Wayne, a Seattle Children’s athletic trainer at Evergreen High School.

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Dr. Todd Blumberg is the program director of Seattle Children’s Child and Young Adult Hip Preservation Program.

Dr. Todd Blumberg, program director of Seattle Children’s Child and Young Adult Hip Preservation Program, has helped build a new program that is truly one-of-a-kind in the Pacific Northwest. The program offers comprehensive and complete care for children, teens and young adults with a wide range of hip conditions.

Blumberg was born and raised in Texas. He graduated from medical school at Baylor College of Medicine. He completed his orthopedic surgery training at the University of Washington and then went on to complete pediatric orthopedic fellowship training at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, with additional fellowship training in hip preservation surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital.

We sat down with Blumberg to learn more about the program and his vision for helping children with hip issues live their most fulfilling life possible.

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A 3D printed heart

A picture is worth a thousand words, or so the old saying goes. But how much is a 3D-printed model of what’s in that picture worth?

For pediatric surgeons who use 3D-printed hearts of the children they operate on, their impact can be huge. And for surgeons-in-training, this technology can allow them to learn new and rare procedures on a realistic-looking organ.

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