Q&A: Children’s Heart Center

Published on Friday, December 10, 2021

By: Annie Oeth, aoeth@umc.edu

Note: This article originally appeared in the Fall 2021 issue of Under the Rainbow, the semi-annual magazine for Children's of Mississippi.

At the heart of Children’s of Mississippi is the Children’s Heart Center. Located in the clinical area of the Kathy and Joe Sanderson Tower, the Children’s Heart Center provides care throughout the lives of children with heart conditions, transitioning them to adulthood.

Dr. William Moskowitz, professor and chief of the Division of Pediatric Cardiology at UMMC and co-director of the Children’s Heart Center at Children’s of Mississippi, shared more about the advances in cardiology available at Mississippi’s only children’s hospital. 

What are some of the conditions pediatric cardiologists at the Children’s Heart Center treat?

We treat patients from before birth (fetal cardiology) to immediately after birth (neonatal cardiology) as well as through childhood and adolescence and into young adulthood (adult congenital heart disease). Diagnoses include rhythm and conduction abnormalities, structural congenital heart disease, and acquired heart disease (from infections or inflammation) as well as genetic diseases that affect the heart muscle or connective tissues of the heart.

What advances in pediatric cardiology are available at Children’s of Mississippi?

We are at the cutting edge of technology at Children’s of Mississippi. From state-of-the-art diagnostic tools including the best ultrasound machines, electrophysiology and ablation tools for diagnosing and treating rhythm and conduction abnormalities, we are providing critical care and transplant services for patients with heart failure. A new cardiac catheterization laboratory allows us to diagnose and treat congenital heart disease even in the smallest and critically ill newborn infants.

The Children’s Heart Center provides comprehensive and collaborative care. Most importantly, we have the most skilled and experienced physicians and nurses and support staff to effectively deal with the most challenging of situations and to support the families during their time of need, acutely and for the long term. 

The Children’s Heart Center is now located inside the Kathy and Joe Sanderson Tower at Children’s of Mississippi. How has the Sanderson Tower helped in advancing care?

What a blessing for the children of Mississippi and their families! The marriage of the best, most experienced providers and staff with a brand-new, family-centered, state-of–the-art facility is what every patient, family and health care provider dreams of. 

The building meshes the open spaces and natural light in a safe and healing environment with the newest technologies. That combination provides daily opportunities for success and optimism for patients, families and health care providers; a combination that is hard to beat!