Child Life Manager Sandra Oberman remembers the faces of young patients pressed up against the glass of a ninth floor MUSC hospital window watching, as beam by beam and brick by brick, MUSC Children’s Hospital grew up

This year, MUSC Children’s Hospital celebrates its 10th birthday—a decade of caring for South Carolina’s children.

The idea of a hospital designed, built and staffed especially for children was born long before the actual MUSC Children’s Hospital was built. The story begins in the late 1960s when a master plan for the university was created. It called for construction of an Institute for Human Development that would include beds for children, mothers and adult psychiatric care. Over the next several years, three possible sites were considered and reconsidered: the old High School of Charleston, Roper Hospital and the old City of Charleston landfill site north of Spring Street.

When none of these sites proved workable, in 1977, the MUSC Board of Trustees approved a proposal for construction of an addition to the main hospital building. Because the state didn’t have a first- rate pediatric facility, the development of a hospital for children became top priority. The S.C. General Assembly gave its OK, but in 1979, the governor vetoed state bond money for the project—a crushing blow to hospital supporters.

By this time, the need for space and modern facilities had become even more critical. Dr. Charles Darby, chairman of pediatrics, and Dr. H. Biemann Othersen, the first pediatric surgeon in the state, recall the crowded infant care areas of the old pediatric ward on the ninth floor of Medical University Hospital, built in 1955. The wing was designed for 50 patients, but often housed more than twice that number.

Not to be defeated, MUSC Children’s Hospital supporters rallied their forces, and finally in 1980, after the building plan was reduced from 10 floors to eight, the General Assembly and the governor authorized bonds for the addition. Construction began in November 1982. In the hospital’s cornerstone, placed in the foundation in 1984, the children who watched MUSC Children’s Hospital take shape placed messages and stories for future generation of young patients. It was an exciting time, Oberman remembers.

After what seemed like an endless parade of cranes, pilings and construction workers, the hospital was completed. It was 1987 when what began as just a twinkle in the eyes of MUSC faculty and administration members became a reality.

In the early morning hours of June 11, 1987, hospital staff moved pediatric patients one by one from the ninth floor into the new Children’s Hospital. By the morning shift change, everyone was in place.

Within the walls of the $50.4 million building are pediatric beds and bassinets, outpatient clinics, classrooms, and research labs where scientists continue their quest for new solutions to diseases that affect the young. When children walk through its doors, they know MUSC Children’s Hospital is a special place—from the fish paintings that decorate the walls to the heart of the building, the Atrium, where children can escape the pains and pressures of hospitalization.

Today, MUSC Children’s Hospital looks forward to the birthdays of the future—helping South Carolina’s children celebrate many more birthdays of their own.

Once upon a time...

June 1987 Terrance Richardson, First heart transplant in the state of South Carolina “Thank you for my new heart.” Those were 12-year-old Terrance Richardson’s first words after he received a new heart on June 30, 1987. His surgery at MUSC was the first such transplant in the state. Terrance suffered from refractory heart failure, an unrecoverable condition, and his prognosis was not good without a new heart. To date, MUSC has performed more than 151 heart transplants, six of them on pediatric patients.

October 1988 Joshua Guion State’s first ECMO baby Without a new form of therapy called ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation), Joshua Guion probably wouldn’t have lived longer than 24 hours. Joshua was born on Sept. 16, 1988 at a local hospital. He appeared to be full term, but his lungs hadn’t matured. Less than a day later, he developed breathing problems and was transferred to MUSC where he was placed on ECMO, a heart-lung machine. By doing the work of the baby’s lungs, ECMO allowed them to heal. Joshua’s blood was drawn, oxygenated, purged of carbon dioxide, warmed and returned to him. Because ECMO is an extremely intensive therapy, it requires someone trained in its use to be with the infant around the clock. After seven days on the ECMO machine, Joshua’s lungs had healed, making him the first infant in South Carolina to be treated successfully with this therapy.

July 1991 Pediatric Endocrinology expands at MUSC When nationally known pediatric endocrinologist Lyndon Key, M.D. joined the MUSC faculty in 1991, he brought with him pioneering research on a deadly illness called marble bone disease, or osteopetrosis. Osteopetrosis causes bone to accumulate and grow abnormally dense and brittle. Bone fills the space that marrow should occupy and presses nerves and blood vessels in the head. This can lead to blindness and facial nerve damage. Key is now in the process of obtaining Food and Drug Administration approval for a treatment he pioneered that helps stabilize patients and improve the function of bone cells— extending life expectancy considerably. With interferon gamma therapy, there is a 70 percent five-year survival rate, compared to only 30 percent if untreated. Currently, MUSC treats the largest number of pediatric osteopetrosis patients in the world.

October 1991 Tangela Roberts Bone marrow transplant used to cure sickle cell anemia for the first time in the United States Angela and Paul Roberts had a dilemma no parent should have to face. Their daughter, Tangela, suffered from sickle cell anemia. The child knew little other than pain during her first three-and-a-half years of life and had been hospitalized many times for pain control. Her prospects were for more of the same—a lifetime of illness and a chance of debilitating strokes and other complications. Tangela’s parents were told a bone marrow transplant could cure her sickle cell disease—but not without risk. They decided to go ahead with the transplant, and on Oct. 23, 1991, Children’s Hospital surgeons Miguel Abboud, M.D., and Joseph Laver, M.D., performed the transplant with marrow donated by Tangela’s brother, Paul Jr. It was the first bone marrow transplant on a sickle cell patient in the United States who had not already suffered from a stroke or other life-threatening problem. The transplant was a success. And today, Tangela is healthy and free of sickle cell disease.

June 1992 Ryan Rubright First toddler treated with ECMO When Diana Rubright went to investigate why her 16-month-old son, Ryan, was crying instead of napping, she was horrified by what she found. His curious hands had worked their way into his visiting aunt’s suitcase. And a handful of chewed tablets—from a supposedly child-proof prescription bottle —lay scattered on the floor. Ryan had swallowed Quinidine, a slow-release medicine that slows and regulates the heartbeat. Ryan’s parents rushed him to the nearest emergency room where his condition was stabilized. He was then transferred to MUSC Children’s Hospital. Surgeons installed a tiny pacemaker and hooked Ryan up to a kidney machine to help filter out the Quinidine. When Ryan’s body failed to respond sufficiently, he was put on the ECMO heart-lung machine. It was the first time ECMO has been used to treat pediatric toxic poisoning, thus setting a new national standard for ECMO usage. Ryan spent 15 days on ECMO, and it took several more weeks for his strength and mental capacity to return to normal. But today, Ryan is a healthy, happy 6-year-old.

September 1992 Jill Rush States’s first pediatric liver transplant Before Prabhakar Baliga, M.D., joined the MUSC staff in 1992, pediatric liver patients had to be referred to the University of Omaha in Nebraska for liver transplantation. Jill Rush, whose liver had been irreparably damaged by complications from cystic fibrosis, was the first pediatric patient to receive a liver transplant in South Carolina. She graduated from Sea Island Academy in May 1997.

July 1994 Pediatric Gastrointestinal Nutrition Service expands After the arrival in July 1994 of pediatric gastroenterologists Rob Baker, M.D., Ph.D., and Susan Baker, M.D,. Ph.D., MUSC Medical Center began offering a comprehensive program for the diagnosis and management of children suffering from diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, liver and pancreas. The Bakers treat conditions like hepatitis, congenital malformations, reflux, constipation, recurrent abdominal pain, and diseases of the stomach, esophagus, small bowel and large bowel.

September 1994 Pediatric Epilepsy Clinic The first epilepsy program in the state devoted entirely to children became available at MUSC in the fall of 1994. A component of MUSC’s comprehensive epilepsy program, the clinic treats patients from infancy to young adulthood. Patients benefit from the teamwork of neurosurgeons, clinical nurse specialists, child psychiatrists, pediatric psychologists, neuropsychologists, speech pathologists, social workers and electroencephalogram technologists. This multidisciplinary approach is essential because management of epilepsy isn’t just a medical problem. The impact on a child’s behavior, development and cognitive potential also must be addressed.

June 1995 Tyshan Goings 100th baby whose life was saved through the use of ECMO Tyshan Goings was born May 26, 1995, with pulmonary hypertension and a blood infection. After being placed on ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation therapy), a heart-lung machine that lets the lungs heal by temporarily doing their work, Tyshan made steady improvement. He became the 100th baby whose life was saved through ECMO since its first use at MUSC in 1988.

December 1996 Jaron Jenkins MUSC’s youngest heart transplant patient Little Jaron Jenkins spent the majority of his first eight months of life in the Pediatric Cardiology Intensive Care Unit at MUSC. While he was still in the womb, physicians at MUSC’s Prenatal Wellness Center discovered an abnormality in Jaron’s chest. A directed fetal echocardiogram, which allows doctors to view the whole heart before birth, showed that a rare tumor had enveloped the right side of his tiny heart. After Jaron was born on May 6, 1996, a pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon performed a temporary operation on the right side of his heart in hopes the tumor would shrink. Unfortunately, it got larger and began to press against the baby’s lungs, making breathing difficult. Cardiologists determined Jaron’s only hope was to receive a new heart. After several months of waiting, Jaron received a heart transplant on Dec. 27, 1996. His recovery has been remarkable.

1997 This year marks the 30th anniversary of MUSC’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Thirty years ago, Abner Levkoff, M.D., ushered modern neonatal care into South Carolina. Today the tiniest of infants, even those born at 23 to 24 weeks of gestation, can survive, thanks to the expert neonatal care offered in MUSC’s NICU, the only Level III unit of its kind in the region. A team of physicians, surgeons, nurses, respiratory therapists, nutritionists and pharmacists staff the unit. They have specialized training in the care of newborns who are premature, have low birthweight or who suffer from respiratory distress, surgical problems, congenital heart defects or critical illnesses. This expert neonatal care builds on the care provided by and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology’s Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine and MUSC Prenatal Wellness Center, who work to ensure the best outcome for women with pregnancies complicated by diseases such as diabetes, RH blood disease or fetal heart problems.