Getting It Right for Children

Dr. Mok’s Notes November 2007

My first memory of Dr. Steve Berman was during his Chief Resident year at the University of Colorado Hospital Intensive Care Nursery in 1975. He was doing research with tiny newborns who had been on ventilators, were having fevers and on physical exam seemed to have ear infections. We knew very little about possible infecting organisms in otitis in these infants, and Steve had developed a technique to aspirate middle ear fluid for culture. Needless to say I was impressed.

Now I have proof that my respect and admiration were well founded. I have just finished reading Steve’s latest book titled “Getting It Right For Children: Stories of Pediatric Care and Advocacy.” This is a well written documentary of one pediatrician’s lifelong dedication to improving the lives of children around the world who needed his help.

Steve gives credit to a lot of people for making him an energetic and effective clinician and advocate for children. The most touching stories in the book that give recognition to a mentor are about C. Henry Kempe, MD, surely one of the most influential figures in the history of pediatrics in Colorado and the nation. Many of us counted Dr. Kempe as a friend and colleague, but Steve’s close relationship with him revealed in the book brings to life again the enormous impact Dr. Kempe had on several generations of pediatric professionals and on the lives of countless children.

During and after his formal pediatric training, Steve made conscious choices to seek out experiences that laid the foundation for his lifelong passions – taking care of the most challenging general pediatric patients and learning to change the system of healthcare in their favor. He spent time in developing countries and with underserved populations in the U.S. The long list of successful legislative efforts that Steve championed over the years attests to the profound impact those early experiences had on hardening his resolve to make a difference in the lives of children.  Medicaid and Child Health Plan policy in Colorado and in the United States would not be as comprehensive without his tireless involvement.

The book serves as a handy reference for those of us less experienced in health policy or advocacy. The appendices include many key articles and commentaries that Steve has authored during his career on child health issues. It is evident that when he sees a problem in healthcare, he does not complain – he takes action. He gives us an analogy toward the end of the book between climbing a fourteener and being a problem solver in the cause of children. He points out that advocacy goes beyond access to include education, safety, social stability and other aspects of children’s lives. All of us can pick one advocacy peak to climb and raise up children’s interests.

Steve has served admirably in many important leadership positions in the Department of Pediatrics at The University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine and in the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). He notes in the book that the AAP got started in the 1920s when the American Medical Association refused to support the Infancy Protection Act to improve child health and a group of pediatricians decided to form their own professional organization. During his term as President of the AAP, he helped develop the strategy of suing state Medicaid programs to assure equal access to primary care medical homes for kids on Medicaid. Perhaps he will see his efforts to ensure universal access for children finally bear fruit in the years ahead. He will step down as Section Head of Academic General Pediatrics in the Pediatrics Department this year, but I doubt he will slow down any.

Most of all Steve represents for me the model clinician. He has taken on some of the toughest clinical challenges in pediatrics, including the care of children with recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, and he continues to attend on the wards at The Children’s Hospital. The stories in the book describe the close personal relationship he has with his patients, and since he is easy to pick out of a crowd, his longtime patients seem to find him about town off and on for years after they transition to adult-medicine physicians. At morning report with the residents, he not infrequently brings up examples of his own patients with the disease being presented to provide long-term outcomes information for the house staff. 

You need to read this book. It is a best seller at Tattered Cover – or I will loan you my copy. You will learn the “3 P’s” of patience, persistence and passion, and it will make you proud to be involved in the care of children. Every day we have many opportunities for “Getting It Right for Children.”

Contact Dr. Mokrohisky at mokrohisky.stefan@tchden.org, or at (720) 777-6130.