Beverly Brozanski, MD, a nationally recognized neonatologist at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been installed as the inaugural Susan and James C. Gould Professor of Pediatric Quality and Safety.
The honor was bestowed by the St. Louis Children’s Hospital Foundation through a gift funded by Susan and James C. Gould, the latter of whom served on the hospital’s Patient Care and Quality Committee from 2002 to 2015 and was its chair for 10 years. During that span, the couple established the Gould Endowed Fund for Patient Safety, which was awarded annually to caregivers at the hospital who demonstrated outstanding performance in the areas of quality care and patient safety.
A professor of pediatrics, Brozanski also is vice chair of quality and safety for the university’s Department of Pediatrics; vice president of pediatric quality improvement and patient safety for BJC HealthCare; and chief medical officer of St. Louis Children’s Hospital.
A skilled clinician with a compassionate leadership style, she has earned numerous accolades for her contributions to neonatal care. She has organized several national and international neonatal quality-improvement projects to reduce infections among hospitalized infants, improve breastfeeding rates, limit disruptions in care during patient transfers around the time of surgery, reduce postoperative hypothermia, and otherwise work toward zero harm before, during and after surgical procedures.
“Through her work in quality improvement and clinical excellence, Dr. Brozanski has raised the standards of care and improved the outcomes for our high-risk patient population,” said Gary A. Silverman, MD, PhD, the Harriet B. Spoehrer Professor and head of the Department of Pediatrics. “She is most deserving of this honor.”
Brozanski also has played an active role in teaching and mentoring and has been instrumental in the training and education of neonatal nurse practitioners, providing a pipeline for such professionals in neonatal intensive care units (NICU). Over the years, she has helped develop core curriculum for medical students, residents and fellows training in neonatology.
“Dr. Brozanski’s unwavering commitment to elevating the quality of pediatric care is not only reflected in her compassionate clinical practice but also in her innovative approaches to quality and safety education,” added Trish Lollo, president of St. Louis Children’s. “This professorship is a testament to her relentless pursuit of excellence, and it underscores our collective mission to do what’s right for kids. We are privileged to have a leader of Dr. Brozanski’s caliber charting the course for the next chapter of pediatric quality and safety.”
Brozanski is a member of the Society of Pediatric Research and the American Pediatric Society and serves on the board of the Children’s Hospitals Neonatal Consortium (CHNC) — an organization of 46 Level 4 NICUs in children’s hospitals that works to improve outcomes for infants. She was a founding member of CHNC’s Continuous Initiatives for Quality Improvement, which is dedicated to the development of quality and safety measures within this population.
Brozanski earned a bachelor’s degree in biology in 1978 from Duquesne University and her medical degree in 1982 from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
She completed her pediatric internship and then residency in 1985 and a neonatal/perinatal medicine fellowship in 1987, all at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. She also trained at the Magee-Womens Hospital in Pittsburgh during her fellowship. She spent 20 years serving as medical director of the NICU at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh before joining Washington University in 2019.
About Washington University School of Medicine
WashU Medicine is a global leader in academic medicine, including biomedical research, patient care and educational programs with 2,800 faculty. Its National Institutes of Health (NIH) research funding portfolio is the third largest among U.S. medical schools, has grown 52% in the last six years, and, together with institutional investment, WashU Medicine commits well over $1 billion annually to basic and clinical research innovation and training. Its faculty practice is consistently within the top five in the country, with more than 1,800 faculty physicians practicing at 65 locations and who are also the medical staffs of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals of BJC HealthCare. WashU Medicine has a storied history in MD/PhD training, recently dedicated $100 million to scholarships and curriculum renewal for its medical students, and is home to top-notch training programs in every medical subspecialty as well as physical therapy, occupational therapy, and audiology and communications sciences.
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