Expanding Access to Specialized Pediatric Cardiac Care Across the Region

Children’s Mercy provides comprehensive, longitudinal care for children with complex congenital heart disease—supporting patients and families from prenatal diagnosis through childhood and beyond. One patient’s journey highlights how coordinated subspecialty care, remote monitoring, and expanded regional services can significantly reduce the burden on families while maintaining the highest level of clinical oversight.

Diagnosed prenatally with a complex congenital heart defect, this patient received care through the Elizabeth J. Ferrell Fetal Health Center, followed by neonatal intensive care and multiple cardiac interventions, including open-heart surgeries, valve replacements and pacemaker procedures. Throughout her course, multidisciplinary teams at Children’s Mercy closely coordinated inpatient, outpatient and home-based monitoring.

Participation in the Cardiac High Acuity Monitoring Program (CHAMP) enabled daily transmission of cardiac and physiologic data from home, allowing early identification of clinical changes and reducing the need for frequent long-distance travel. As Children’s Mercy expanded specialty cardiac services in Wichita, the family was able to transition many follow-up visits and monitoring appointments closer to home—minimizing missed work and school while maintaining continuity with their established care teams.

Today, the patient continues to receive ongoing cardiology care, with improved cardiac function following medical therapy and device interventions. Access to Children’s Mercy subspecialists both in Kansas City and regionally has supported timely interventions, close surveillance and a quality of life that allows participation in school and activities.

Children’s Mercy has a commitment to partnering with community clinicians—offering advanced pediatric subspecialty expertise, remote monitoring programs, and regional clinics designed to keep care close to home whenever possible while preserving seamless coordination across the system.