NEW ORLEANS – Dr. Melvin “Mel” Almodóvar, a pediatric cardiac intensivist, will join the Children’s Hospital New Orleans heart center as a co-director and as director of its cardiac intensive care unit in August. He will also be appointed professor of pediatrics at Louisiana State University, serving as chief of the division of cardiac intensive care for LSU Health Sciences Center.
“Dr. Almodóvar is a nationally recognized expert in Cardiology and Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care,” said Dr. Mark Kline, chief medical officer and physician-in-chief for Children’s Hospital New Orleans. “As leader of our cardiac intensive care unit, he will amplify the specialized care provided 24/7 by our entire team of physicians, allied health professionals, and nurses for some of our most fragile and vulnerable patients. Dr. Almodóvar will serve as an integral leader for the Heart Center, which serves as the destination center for congenital heart disease for the patients, parents, and providers of the Gulf South.”
Dr. Almodóvar has held leadership positions at Boston Children’s Hospital, Children’s Hospital Colorado, and Johns Hopkin’s All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, FL. He brings a wealth of experience and expertise in the management of complex congenital heart disease, has authored more than 50 peer reviewed publications and book chapters and has mentored many trainees and junior faculty now practicing in or leading cardiac intensive care units across the country.
“The growth of our Heart Center team over the last several years has allowed Children’s Hospital New Orleans to provide highly specialized pediatric cardiology services for more children and families from across the State of Louisiana and the Gulf South, including those who require intensive care,” says Lou Fragoso, pPresident and CEO for Children’s Hospital New Orleans. “Dr. Almodóvar will bring more than 23 years of academic and clinical expertise to his role in leading our growing Cardiac Intensive Care team.”
Dr. Almodóvar is joining the Children’s Hospital New Orleans Heart Center from the University of Miami and Jackson Health System, where he has served as the George E. Batchelor chair in pediatric cardiology, director of the pediatric cardiac intensive care unit, and co-director of the children’s heart center since 2018. He attended medical school at Stanford University School of Medicine and completed his residency in pediatrics and fellowships in pediatric cardiology and cardiac intensive care at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
The Heart Center at Children’s Hospital New Orleans cares for patients of all ages, from premature babies to adults with congenital heart disease. It has a dedicated, 28-bed cardiac intensive care unit, which is staffed 24/7 by board-certified cardiac intensivists, and a new 70,000 square foot perioperative suite that features a 42-room same day surgery unit, 12 operating rooms, two new cardiac catheterization laboratories and an adjacent post anesthesia care unit.
