Center for Innovation We’re turning “What If?” into “What’s Next?” Connecticut Children’s Center for Innovation is dedicated to improving child health. Our pediatric innovation ecosystem includes: 3,000 pediatric team member innovators, entrepreneurs, investors, established companies, legislative officials along with community and corporate partners. Our partnerships are created to clinically validate and co-develop innovations that improve child health in Connecticut and beyond. These strategic alliances are created to foster ideas, allow for testing and clinical validation to develop solutions for healthcare. As a nonprofit pediatric health system, Connecticut Children’s mission is dedicated to improving the physical, social and emotional health of children through family-centered care, research, education and advocacy. We embrace discovery, teamwork, integrity and excellence in all that we do. How does our Center for Innovation work? Connecticut Children’s Center for Innovation creates opportunities for co-development of products and services for the front lines of clinical care. The goals of the Center for Innovation are: Support a culture of innovation at Connecticut Children’s to pioneer advancements that benefit pediatric patients Create a system to collect and review internal innovative ideas from our team members Establish partnerships with external entrepreneurs and established companies to co-develop successful ventures Create a revenue stream to reinvest into our clinical care, research, education and advocacy We know how to help transform ideas into reality. Our nationally-recognized innovations include the following: Our Help Me Grow National Center coordinates efforts in 28 states to implement the Help Me Grow early childhood system model to ensure children reach their full potential. The National Center provides support to affiliates that work to identify developmental and behavioral concerns in at-risk children and connect them to existing services that can intervene as early as possible. The National Center’s goal is to expand the model to all 50 states. Our Care Coordination Collaborative Model improves efficiency and effectiveness of care coordination services. This model allows care coordinators from different sectors to work together to increase understanding of available supports and decrease duplication of services provided to families. Christine Finck, MD, FACS is pioneering innovation in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. One area of focus is Premature Lung Disease. Many neonates born prematurely are not able to exchange oxygen because their lungs are underdeveloped. These patients commonly are placed on ventilators, which can be damaging over long periods of time. Therefore, many of these children endure a lifetime of respiratory illness. Her team is working to generate a patient-specific stem cell therapy that could improve respiratory health for these patients for the rest of their lives. Great ideas happen when there’s recognition of a pain point or inefficiency impacting patient experience, research or clinical care. The Center for Innovation will serve as a pediatric hub to encourage transfer of knowledge and products through education, resources and services. We provide the tools needed to help our team members’ and partners’ ideas – of how to improve care, develop technology and decrease cost – become a reality for the benefit of pediatric patients across the world.
