
2 minute read
Children’s Hospital & Medical Center
IMPROVING THE LIVES OF CHILDREN

Chanda Chacón, MPH, FACHE, the new president & chief executive officer at Children’s Hospital & Medical Center, knows that childhood injuries and illness impact someone forever. She carries personal experience. As a preteen, she was seriously injured in a car accident. Despite initial treatments, her ongoing pain and side effects would not allow her to sit or stand for more than 30 minutes. The accident and its consequences were difficult for her entire family. Her experience navigating the health care system back then fuels her special calling now: to lead and serve Children’s mission to improve the lives of children.

“The people part is such an important part of our medical care. Memories imprint and affect the whole family. Focusing on taking care of families is an integral part of a child’s care,” Chacón said. “I’m not sure the region knows how deep the services are at Children’s,” she explained. “We have an excellent medical staff and amazing surgeons. They are not only good at what they do, they are also the kind of people you want to be around. They are doing a very heavy lift and yet continue to serve with dedication and optimism, even throughout the pandemic.”
Chacón emphasized that area families don’t have to travel far for the very best pediatric outcomes. “We support a dynamic, vibrant medical environment right here. And being close to family and a support network is particularly important in healing.”


Children’s will open the state-of-theart Hubbard Center for Children this September. The nine-floor facility stretches to the edge of West Dodge Road and will house an expanded Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Cardiac Care Unit and much more. Chacón says the Hubbard Center is a visible sign of Children’s commitment to making the safest, highest-quality pediatric care available to more children in Omaha and in the region. An expanded physical footprint will allow the hospital to further expand and enhance the quality and scope of services provided to improve children’s lives.
“I feel like, in pediatric health care, lots of people have personal stories like mine,” said Chacón. “I think of how different my experience in health care would have been had I had people trained to interact with me as a child. It would have changed so many memories. We have an obligation to be innovative and excellent so every child can have access to the best pediatric specialists. That is a powerful and very high calling, and children and families deserve that kind of excellence from us.”
CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL & MEDICAL CENTER
8200 DODGE STREET OMAHA, NE 68114 402.955.5400 CHILDRENSOMAHA.ORG
