Danis Pediatric Center
At Danis Pediatric Center, nationally-acclaimed doctors and nurses provide innovative, quality pediatric services to some of our region’s most vulnerable children. SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital has established a reputation for providing comprehensive care for all children, regardless of their family’s ability to pay. More than 85% of the families who come to Danis Pediatrics live in poverty. Without the compassionate and dedicated professionals at Danis Pediatrics, thousands of children would have no options for the care most of us take for granted.
The families who come to Danis Pediatrics represent a wide diversity of economic, race, gender, ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Nearly 20 languages are spoken by our families, including sign language. In addition, children up to age 21 come for a wide range of reasons, from well-baby visits to ongoing primary care, to the management of multiple, complex conditions. Some families travel up to two hours to receive care by our expert physicians.
Many socioeconomic factors have increased the demand for the services of Danis Pediatrics by more than 200% in the last ten years. Each year, more than 22,000 visits take place in a space originally designed to accommodate 10,000 visits per year. To meet this growing demand, Danis Pediatrics has added programs, services and staff – and even added a second location to handle another 5,000 visits per year – to provide high-quality services to all children in need.
Danis Pediatric Center’s programs are based on a model of preventive care that addresses numerous social determinants of health, such as poverty, food insecurity, mental health and language barriers. Complementary services offered at Danis Pediatric Center include:
- FACES International Adoption and Refugee Clinic addresses the complex medical, emotional and psychosocial needs of internationally-adopted, immigrant and refugee children.
- Parenting Services give parents and caregivers skills to manage children’s behavioral issues, decrease stress and improve family function using evidence-based interventions.
- Fostering Healthy Children improves the health and wellbeing of children in foster care through comprehensive, coordinated care.
- CARES (Connection and Resource Equity Services) links families with social determinants of health to appropriate resources by connecting with Family Navigators that offer personalized follow-up and supportive care.
In addition to providing comprehensive health care services, Danis Pediatrics is also a teaching site for the next generation of physicians. More than 50 pediatric residents and 180 medical students rotate through Danis Pediatrics each year for advanced pediatric training. Along the way, they learn about cultural differences and compassion in medical practice when caring for some of our most vulnerable patients.
How Your Support Will Help
By supporting Danis Pediatric Center, you are helping us make a difference in the lives of children in the following ways:
Operational support of the various programs and services offered by the Center’s multiple facilities.
Technology upgrades. Each year, Danis Pediatrics replaces scales, exam tables, thermometers, pulse oximeters and more in order to provide the safest, most effective care to our young patients.
Program enhancements. Staff at the Center continually evaluate the effectiveness of current program offerings and launch new programs as needs arise. Your support enables us to make these enhancements a reality.
“My father felt that every child deserved the best care available, regardless of any religious, social, economic or race issues. It was his vision to create something important to the St. Louis community that will continue to be a place of excellence.”
— Timothy Danis, Board of Governors
