Inventing the Cures of Tomorrow
Dr. Mory ZieglerDr. Moritz Ziegler, MD
Surgeon-in-Chief
The Ponzio Family Chair for the Surgeon-in-Chief
The Children’s Hospital
Professor, Department of Surgery
University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine
Exciting advances
Of course you’d expect to find Dr. Mory (Moritz) Ziegler and his department excited about the incredible work they’re doing at The Children’s Hospital to advance pediatric surgical techniques.
“Right now, we have many promising research initiatives,” says Ziegler. “There is a huge emphasis on bringing promising research to practical fruition, in a vast range of work,” including bioengineering pediatric hearts; tissue regeneration; maternal-fetal procedures and the possibility of a new, dedicated center; inventing and perfecting minimally invasive techniques; and fully utilizing surgical simulation for training and improving technique.
“These are the cures of tomorrow, and we’re inventing them.”
So which project is Dr. Ziegler most excited about? Dr. Ziegler says it’s the commitment The Children’s Hospital has made to tracking, measuring and sharing outcomes that’s most “near and dear to [his] heart.”
Tracking outcomes
The Children’s Hospital has been selected by The National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) as one of three alpha pediatric sites for the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program for children’s hospitals, to be rolled out this summer under the guidance of the American College of Surgeons and locally partnered with Colorado Health Outcomes (COHO) and The Children’s Hospital Outcomes Research (COR).
Created to measure and improve risk-adjusted surgical outcomes using validated methods first developed and proven in VA hospitals, this program will track and share the critical data necessary to improve outcomes for hundreds of select procedures.
Participation in this study is expected to help perfect outcomes for even the most simple, routine pediatric procedures.
Why tracking matters
“Measured outcomes are simply better. By tracking and sharing such data, we’ll challenge The Children’s Hospital team to improve itself, and by sharing our results, show other pediatric surgeons—or adult surgeons caring for pediatric patients—how they can have the success we see here. Should we fall short, we will fix it. Should we outperform everyone else, we’ll share our methods and practices so that children everywhere will benefit from our expertise.”
The National Surgical Quality Improvement Program will eventually be expanded to beta sites and then rolled out nationwide.
At the top of his field
Dr. Ziegler received his medical degree from the University of Michigan Medical School in 1968. He completed his residency in surgery at the University of Pennsylvania. He has also completed fellowships in Medical Oncology at the American Oncologic Hospital, in transplant biology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and in Pediatric Surgery at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
Prior to his arrival in Denver, Dr. Ziegler served in leadership positions at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the Children’s Medical Center Cincinnati and the Children’s Hospital Boston.
While he is perhaps most famous for inventing the only surgical procedure available to treat Hirschprung’s disease—a rare and previously deadly genetic bowel disorder—one day his legacy will be helping to improve pediatric surgical outcomes not just at The Children’s Hospital, but worldwide.
