'Behind the Blue': KCH's Carl Backer discusses UK’s Joint Pediatric Heart Program
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 4, 2022) – A collaboration between Kentucky Children’s Hospital and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center brings together the expertise of Kentucky’s top hospital and one of the country’s best children’s hospitals to create one of the top pediatric heart programs in the country, according to U.S. News & World Report.
Entering its fifth year, the innovative Joint Pediatric and Congenital Heart Program follows the one-program, two-sites model, which means pediatric cardiology experts and a team of pediatric heart surgeons at Kentucky Children’s Hospital benefit from the support of other pediatric heart specialists at Cincinnati Children’s to provide a full spectrum of children’s cardiology services. This collaboration provides Kentucky families with the reassurance of knowing they have access to exceptional heart treatment for children close to home.
Carl Backer, M.D., is chief of pediatric cardiac surgery and director of the Joint Pediatric Heart Care Program. Backer joins KCH from the Ann & Robert Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, where he served as the surgical director of the pediatric heart transplant program and the A.C. Buehler Professor of Surgery since 2001. He has been an attending surgeon in the division of cardiovascular-thoracic surgery since 1988, and served as head of that division from 2008 to 2018.
On this episode of "Behind the Blue," Backer talks about the state of the program on its fifth anniversary, the importance of the program for the people of Kentucky and more.
"Behind the Blue" is available on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and Spotify. Become a subscriber to receive new episodes of “Behind the Blue” each week. UK’s latest medical breakthroughs, research, artists and writers will be featured, along with the most important news impacting the university.
For questions or comments about this or any other episode of "Behind the Blue," email BehindTheBlue@uky.edu or tweet your question with #BehindTheBlue. Transcripts for this or other episodes of "Behind the Blue" can be downloaded from the show’s blog page.
To discover what’s wildly possible at the University of Kentucky, click here.
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.
In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.