A Medical Staff that Goes the Extra Mile
For the 850-member medical staff of Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, caring for the region’s children is a full-time commitment and then some. The team, which includes pediatricians as well as more than 500 pediatric subspecialists, provides care for children in South Florida and beyond, at locations extending from Homestead to Martin County.
For many on this diverse staff of leading pediatric medical providers, the commitment to the region’s children goes beyond the daily provision of clinical services. Here are stories detailing the remarkable outreach work of several members of the Nicklaus Children’s medical staff.
Dr. Marisa Azaret, Advocate for Digital Safety
Dr. Azaret, Director of Clinical Psychology at Nicklaus Children’s, is an advocate for children’s safety in the digital space. She is a spokesperson for the Digital Safety Alliance, established by the hospital in collaboration with other organizations. The alliance recently launched Safe+Sound, an initiative aimed at keeping kids safe when using electronic devices, including smartphones, tablets and laptops.
In addition to her clinical work, Dr. Azaret speaks with the news media about the importance of digital safety, contributes blogs and other messaging to support parents in helping children navigate in the digital world.
“Young people increasingly crave social rewards — like attention and positive feedback from their peers — before they’ve fully developed the ability to inhibit their behaviors and resist temptations associated with social media,” said Dr. Azaret. “Many young people use social media to compare themselves to others and base their self-worth on superficial metrics such as ‘likes,’ rather than seeking out healthy, successful relationships. They want to stop the cycle but don’t know how to do it and crave the help of parents or other adults in their life to address the situation,” said Dr. Azaret.
For more information and resources for parents visit; http://digitalsafetyalliance.org
Dr. Joanna Perdomo, Co-Founder Food for Salud
Dr. Perdomo, a Nicklaus Children’s pediatrician and Medical Director of the hospital’s Office of Community Health, helps spearhead Food for Salud, a hospital initiative aimed at using the power of food and nutrition to promote the wellbeing of children and families.
Dr. Perdomo said, “Food insecurity affects about 18.2 percent Miami-Dade County households with children, a percentage that is significantly higher than the national average. Food insecurity is a real and pressing issue. It is my honor to help connect Nicklaus Children’s patient families with needed resources.”
Since 2022, the program has screened patients for food insecurity, and more recently, screening has included other social needs. Nearly a quarter of screened families are identifying as food insecure. As needs are identified, families are referred to community resources including WIC, SNAP, and Feeding South Florida, an organization with a mission that includes providing immediate access to nutritious foods.
Also, as part of Food for Salud, Nicklaus Children’s leverages experience in clinical nutrition to provide education and cooking demonstrations at the hospital and in the community to help children and families learn fun and accessible ways to incorporate nutritious foods into their lives.
For more information visit www.nicklauschildrens.org/foodforsalud
Dr. Anthony Rossi, Founder Free EKG Program
Dr. Rossi, a cardiac intensivist and Director of Research for the Nicklaus Children’s Section of Cardiovascular Medicine, founded Nicklaus Children’s Heart Institute’s EKG screening program in 2011. Since its founding, the program has provided more than 65,000 free screening EKGs, resulting in the detection of 1,400 abnormal results.
“No child should die of a preventable cause,” said Dr. Rossi in founding the program over a decade ago. He continues to read the screening EKGs in his spare time.
The simple test, available to children ages 5 to 21 at 17 Nicklaus Children’s locations in South Florida, can identify serious conditions that can cause electrical or mechanical problems with the heart.
Truly a gift to the community, a patient’s ability to receive a free EKG test is not conditioned on ordering any other item or services from Nicklaus Children’s or its medical staff.
For more information, call 1-855-624-EKGS.
