December 22, 2015

93015JohnDormans175Chief of Orthopedics Dr. John Dormans was recently awarded the L.E. Simmons Chair in Orthopedics. Provided by the Houston Endowment in recognition of Simmons, who served as chairman of Texas Children’s Board of Trustees from 2003-2004, the purpose of this chair is to support orthopedic research, education, clinic program development and advocacy at Texas Children’s.

“I’m extremely honored to be awarded this distinction,” Dormans said. “My vision is for Texas Children’s to be the best place in the world for families to receive pediatric orthopedic care.”

Dormans has distinguished himself nationally and internationally as a leader in the field and is a highly regarded clinician and surgeon with accomplishments in research and teaching. His primary clinical focus is on the treatment of complex spinal disorders and orthopedic oncology care. He previously served as president of the following organizations: Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America; International Society of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology (SICOT-USA); the Board of Directors of Orthopaedics Overseas; and the Scoliosis Research Society’s 50th anniversary meeting. He is current president of World Orthopedic Concern. In addition, he served as president of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) Medical Staff (1999-2001).

Dormans obtained his undergraduate degree at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana and went on to earn his medical degree at the university’s school of medicine in Indianapolis. He then completed his residency in orthopedic surgery at Michigan State University, followed by a clinical pediatric orthopedic fellowship at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario. He rounded out his post-graduate training with programs at Harvard’s School of Public Health, CHOP and The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Dormans has been an invited lecturer in more than 50 countries, published more than 340 articles, authored more than 140 chapters and wrote five books. He has received numerous awards including the Jesse T. Nicholson Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching from CHOP, where he served as chief of orthopedic surgery prior to joining Texas Children’s and Baylor, and the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching from Penn.

With seven specialty clinics and more than 20 physicians and physician assistants, the Texas Children’s pediatric orthopedics program cares for children in Houston, across the nation and internationally, treating everything from minor fractures to complex disorders, ensuring the highest level of individualized care for pediatric patients from newborns to young adults.

September 9, 2015

91015JohnDormansortho640Chief of Orthopedics Dr. John Dormans is an eternal optimist, skilled orthopedic surgeon and strategic leader, a combination of which are destined to prove great things for Texas Children’s.

Since joining the organization three months ago, Dormans has developed a plan to make Texas Children’s Orthopedics one of the top programs in the world.

“Texas Children’s is the place to be,” Dormans said. “It’s the largest children’s hospital in North America and is located in one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the country; the potential here is just immense.”

To harness that potential, Dormans is focusing his efforts on three main areas – recruitment, operations and facilities, and reputation and expertise.

Recruitment

Including Dormans, five new people have joined the Orthopedics Department this summer. Dormans came to Texas Children’s from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), where he was the hospital’s chief of orthopedic surgery from 1996 to 2014. During his time with CHOP, Dormans focused his clinical work on pediatric spinal deformity and musculoskeletal tumors while providing the leadership to grow the number of specialized and outreach clinics and make CHOP the No. 1 ranked orthopedic program in the country, according to U.S. News & World Report. He also was president of CHOP’s medical staff for three years and presided over five international surgical organizations.

“Dr. Dormans comes to us with an incredible track record of success,” said Surgeon-in-Chief Dr. Charles D. Fraser Jr. “His knowledge, leadership and accomplishments make him an exceptional asset to Texas Children’s and we are confident in his ability to lead our Division of Orthopedics into an exciting new chapter.”

In addition to Dormans, a new pediatric orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Dorothy Harris, has joined the team, as well as two clinical fellows and one research fellow. Harris recently completed her fellowship in pediatric orthopedics and scoliosis at Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine. Her major areas of interest include orthopedic trauma/fractures, cerebral palsy, and limb deformities.

Next summer, Dormans anticipates hiring up to eight new orthosurgeons at Main Campus and corresponding support for Texas Children’s Hospitals The Woodlands and Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus.

Some of those hires will be “super stars” in the orthopedics field, Dormans said, adding that 20 pediatric orthopedic surgeons have formally expressed interest in working with Texas Children’s Orthopedics, some of whom are among the top orthopedic surgeons in the country.

“I think we’re on the radar,” Dormans said. “We’ve attracted a lot of interest.”

A more robust staff will allow the Orthopedics Department to accommodate the requests it currently gets from patients and families across the region, throughout the United States and across the globe, Dormans said. It also will position the department for tremendous growth in both its general practice and sub specialty areas.

Operations and Facilities

A key ingredient to that growth is gaining more access to existing clinical space and operating rooms on Main Campus.

“We are bursting at the seams on Main Campus,” Dormans said about available clinical and operating room space at Main Campus. “Our only escape valve for surgical cases currently is at West Campus.”

Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands and the Care First initiative – which will reinvestment in the programs our most critically ill patients need – will help. In addition, leadership is acutely in tune with Dormans’ needs and is doing everything they can to meet them.

“The leadership at this organization is phenomenal,” Dormans said. “They are all over everything, listening, trying to prioritize and implement and execute to get things done.”

Operationally, Dormans said he is making several changes that will help make the department run more efficiently and become more competitive. The department will have dedicated surgical schedulers, which will free up some of the clinical staff’s time, for example. And, an additional six nurse practitioners, physician assistants and advanced practice providers will make the department’s outpatient visit process run more smoothly.

Another aspect of operations Dormans said he is focusing on is technology and getting the latest and greatest tools to aid his staff in doing the best they can to help the patients who seek expertise from his department. One such piece of equipment is a device called an EOS system that will bring state-of-the-art low X-ray dose imaging for patients with scoliosis and leg length issues. The machine will be in place later this month and is part of a joint capital project between the departments of Radiology and Orthopedics.

“There are a lot of exciting things coming to fruition and many more to come,” Dormans said.

Reputation and Expertise

All orthopedic departments are different in what services they choose to offer and specialize in. Some organizations dedicate all of their time and resources to specialty services while others only offer general services. Dormans said he wants Texas Children’s to offer the best of both.

“It’s like a football team,” he said. “You want a diverse lineup of players.”

Within his department, those players not only include medical and support staff but researchers and educators as well. Recently, the department has started journal clubs, revamped the conference schedule and collaborated with Brenden Lee, the No. 1 funded musculoskeletal researcher in the world, to create a basic science research program in orthopedics.

Ultimately, Dormans said he wants people to identify Texas Children’s as the place to go to find answers to all of their pediatric musculoskeletal problems.

With more than 20 physicians and advanced practice providers treating everything from minor fractures to complex disorders, the department is on the right track, but, “the sky is the limit,” Dormans said.

May 12, 2015

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Texas Children’s Hospital is excited to announce the addition of Dr. John Dormans as the new chief of orthopedics. Dormans, whose appointment was effective May 1, also will serve as a professor of orthopedic surgery at Baylor College of Medicine.

“Dr. Dormans comes to us with an incredible track record of success. His knowledge, leadership and accomplishments make him an exceptional asset to Texas Children’s, and we are confident in his ability to lead our Division of Orthopedics into an exciting new chapter growing our clinical and research programs,” said Surgeon-In-Chief Dr. Charles D. Fraser, Jr. “Dormans has a proven leadership record of programmatic development, faculty mentoring and managing clinical activity with research to advance care. We are excited to have him here.”

Dormans obtained his undergraduate degree at Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind. and went on to earn his medical degree at the university’s school of medicine in Indianapolis. He then completed his residency in orthopedic surgery at Grand Rapids Michigan State University, followed by a clinical pediatric orthopedic fellowship at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario. He rounded out his post-graduate training with programs at Harvard’s School of Public Health and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP).

Since 1990, Dormans has been a clinician and leader at CHOP, serving as the hospital’s chief of orthopedic surgery from 1996 to 2014 and as president of the medical staff and president of Children’s Surgical Associates (the CHOP surgical group) for four three-year terms. He focused his clinical work on pediatric spinal deformity and musculoskeletal tumors while providing the leadership to grow the number of specialized and outreach clinics and make CHOP a top ten pediatric orthopedic program.

“I look forward to joining the faculty at Texas Children’s Hospital as orthopedics chief,” said Dormans. “As the largest children’s hospital in the United States, Texas Children’s has had a meteoric rise into the top five ranked children’s hospitals in the country. I look forward to leading the outstanding orthopedic faculty and achieving our full potential for patient care, research, advocacy and education.”

During his time at CHOP, he balanced both academic and clinical work. As the director of CHOP’s pediatric orthopedic fellowship, Dormans trained 51 clinical fellows and 37 research fellows and participated as an invited lecturer in nearly 50 countries. Additionally, he published more than 340 articles, authored more than 140 chapters and wrote five books. Dormans is an internationally recognized physician and scholar with accomplishments in research and teaching and numerous “best doctors” awards. He previously served as president of the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America and International Society of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology (SICOT) and is a past chairman of the Board of Directors of Orthopaedics Overseas. Later this year, Dormans will serve as president of the Scoliosis Research Society (SRS) for the 50th anniversary meeting in Minneapolis, Minn.

Texas Children’s Orthopedics is consistently ranked amongst the top pediatric orthopedic programs in the nation by U.S.News & World Report. With seven specialty clinics and more than 20 physicians and physician assistants, this program cares for children across Houston, treating everything from minor fractures to complex disorders, and ensuring the highest level of individualized care for pediatric patients from newborns to young adults.