Children's Memorial Hospital to develop new integrative medicine program

February 14, 2003 — Children's Memorial Hospital announced today it is developing a new Integrative Medicine initiative to study ways of introducing several non-traditional therapies into the conventional treatments of some hospitalized children. The new initiative will have a primary focus on research and will be phased in over several years. Children's Memorial is naming the center The Judith Nan Miller Center for Integrative Medicine in honor of a gift from the Audrey and Jack Miller Family Foundation.

"I am thrilled to be able to support the new Integrative Medicine program at Children's Memorial because I believe there are many more ways to treat illnesses along with traditional medicine," said Judy Nan Miller, trustee of The Audrey and Jack Miller Family Foundation. "I have had great success with a variety of complementary therapies, and I am excited about the potential impact this program will have on the many sick children served by Children's Memorial."

Examples of some of the complementary medicine practices include the use of acupuncture for surgery patients, the use of aromas for patients with sleep disorders and therapeutic touch for mothers of sick newborns to facilitate lactation.

"We are always striving to better meet the needs of the patients and families we serve," said David Steinhorn, MD, the program's principal director and physician in pulmonary and critical care. "Our initiative will provide a primary focus on research and education in addition to developing a better understanding of the efficacy and role for non-traditional therapies in pediatric medicine."

Steinhorn will work on the research component with Katherine Kaufer Christoffel, MD, MPH, interim co-director of the Children's Memorial Institute for Education and Research (CMIER). Clinical research will begin this spring and training workshops will begin later this year to interested health care workers. A community advisory board has been established this year and will begin quarterly meetings to help guide the development of the program. A national search has been undertaken to recruit an established investigator to head up the research program.

Children's Memorial Hospital, Chicago, is recognized as one of the top pediatric hospitals in the country and number one in Illinois by rankings in U.S. News & World Report. Its physicians are on the faculty at the Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University.

For more information about the Integrative Medicine program, write to integrativemed@childrensmemorial.org.