Pediatric Specialty Care

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Pediatric LTAC & High Acuity

Skilled Nursing

SDCH is Utah’s leading provider of long-term acute care (LTAC), post-acute, transitional, and rehabilitative care for children with special healthcare needs. When children experience severe trauma, serious illnesses, or chronic and complex medical conditions – their lives and that of their families are significantly and permanently altered. Our pediatric LTAC is the bridge from the NICU/PICU to home.

Over 80% of our Pediatric LTAC Patients Discharge Directly from SDCH to Being Home with Family.

As Utah’s only pediatric LTAC hospital we can provide the level of medical care needed while also focusing on growth and development.  SDCH has the only LTAC team capable of managing the SERVO-U ventilator outside of an acute hospital intensive care unit (ICU).  This allows our smallest patients the chance to receive additional therapy time while transitioning from the SERVO-U to the home ventilator.  Often the most critical period in recovery and rehabilitation occurs in the early stages.  Our therapy team can provide optimal outcomes because of high-quality therapy time during these crucial stages of development.

Our mission is to provide children and their families with the finest in pediatric specialty care coupled with extensive family training in a therapeutic and supportive environment.


The SDCH Pediatric Specialty Care Program provides care for complex medical needs, including but not limited to those with:

  • Acquired brain injuries
  • Spinal cord dysfunction (trauma, tumors, spina bifida)
  • Neuromuscular conditions
  • Genetic syndromes and congenital anomalies
  • Critical illnesses with multi-system involvement
  • Severe trauma
  • Neurodevelopmental disabilities, including cerebral palsy
  • Infusion therapies (IV antibiotics, parenteral nutrition)
  • Nutritional impairments, failure to thrive and feeding disorders
  • Respiratory failure with tracheostomy and ventilator dependency
  • Sleep disordered breathing with CPAP or BIPAP support
  • Complex wound care (burns, decubitus ulcers)
  • Life limiting conditions for palliative or hospice care
  • Immobility related to complex orthopedic conditions
  • Severe spasticity with intrathecal baclofen therapy
  • Complications related to extreme prematurity

Physicians

Dr. Nancy Murphy

Nancy Murphy, MD, FAAP, FAAPMR completed her undergraduate work at Rutgers University in 1985 and earned her MD at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) in 1990. She went on to complete a dual residency program in Pediatrics and Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (PM&R) at UMDNJ, and subsequently attained board certifications in Pediatrics, PM&R and Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine. Dr. Murphy initiated her clinical and academic career at VCU/Medical College of Virginia and Children’s Hospital of Richmond in 1995, and then joined the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Utah’s School of Medicine in 2001.

Currently, Dr. Murphy is a Clinical Professor, Chief of the Division of Pediatric Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and Adjunct Faculty in PM&R at the University of Utah. She serves as the Pediatric Medical Director at South Davis Community Hospital. She developed and directs the Pediatric Comprehensive Care Program, a unique service of coordinated subspecialty care for children with complex, chronic conditions and high medical fragility at Primary Children’s Hospital (PCH). She is an active member of PCH’s Ethics Committee.

As the Immediate Past Chairperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics’ (AAP) Council on Children with Disabilities, she has authored and lectured widely on the topics of adapted sports and recreation, partnerships in coordinated care, medical homes for children with cerebral palsy, and pediatric home healthcare. She is an active member of the AAP, the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine, and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Dr. Murphy’s research career focuses on the health, function and quality of life of children with disabilities and their families. As a CMS Innovation Advisor, she focuses on models of high value healthcare delivery for children with medical complexity and disabilities. She has published over 50 articles, chapters, case reports, editorials and abstracts.

Nancy Murphy, MD, FAAP, FAAPMR is a Professor of Pediatrics, Chief of the Division of Pediatric Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Utah School of Medicine. Since joining the faculty in 2001, she has been the Medical Director of the Pediatric Transitional Care Program at South Davis Community Hospital. In 2007, she established the Comprehensive Care Program at Primary Children’s Hospital for children with complex conditions and disabilities, often with technology dependencies. She is the Immediate Past Chair of Council of Children with Disabilities, a national committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Throughout her career as a pediatric physiatrist, Dr. Murphy has focused her clinical and academic work on the care of children with disabilities, in the context of their families and communities.

Dr. Jennifer Brinton

Dr. Brinton graduated from Harvard College with honors in Biology, and completed medical school at the University Of Utah School Of Medicine, where she also did her residency in categorical Pediatrics. As a third-year resident, she received the “Golden Apple” award for teaching medical students. She was a partner with Utah Valley Pediatrics in Orem, Utah for several years, where she also worked with Family Medicine residents at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center. While in private practice, she participated in UPIQ quality-improvement projects in asthma, ADHD and Medical Home. Currently, she works in inpatient medicine at both Primary Children’s Medical Center and South Davis Community Hospital, where she works with and teaches medical students, Pediatric and Family Medicine residents caring for hospitalized children.

Dr. Brinton has a special interest in working with families and children with special healthcare needs, and in preventive health education and child health advocacy. She volunteers for the Utah Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (UAAP) both as a CATCH (Community Access to Child Health) grant co-facilitator and to provide pediatrician testimony on child-health bills at the yearly State Legislature. She represents the UAAP to the Utah Medical Association’s Council of Trustees and serves as the physician representative on the Utah State Medicaid Drug Utilization Review Board.

Dr. Brinton cares for children as a general pediatrician at South Davis Community Hospital and a Hospitalist at Primary Children’s Medical Center. She has a special interest in disease prevention, child advocacy and the comprehensive care of children with special healthcare needs

Dr. Brinton graduated from the University Of Utah School Of Medicine and completed residency in categorical Pediatrics at the institution. She was a partner with Utah Valley Pediatrics (UVPEDS) in Orem, Utah, for 5 ½ years before leaving practice to care for her family. While in practice, she participated in UPIQ quality-improvement projects in asthma, ADHD and Medical Home, and applied for and was awarded a grant from the Utah Chapter of the American Lung Association for an asthma quality improvement project. She was the chair of the Quality Improvement Committee for UVPEDS her last two years in practice, and served as a volunteer pediatrician at the Utah County United Way free clinic once a month for two years.

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Main Line: (801) 295-2361

Admissions: (801) 397-8177

Address:
SDCH Pediatric Specialty Programs
401 South 400 East, 3rd Floor
Bountiful, Utah 84010

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