2023 Physician Spotlight: Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children Center for Digestive Health and Nutrition

Left to Right: Nishant H. Patel, MD; Shaista Syeda Safder, MD; Yamen Smadi, MD;
Brenda Cardenas, APRN; Jeffrey A. Bornstein, MD; Akash Pandy, MD;
Devendra I. Mehta, MD; Teri Jackson MSN, APRN; Khaled Bittar, MD;
Carolina Raijer, APRN; Justin A. De Boer, MD; Vijay Mehta, DO

ABOUT US

The Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children Center for Digestive Health and Nutrition has been caring for Central Florida children and families for more than 20 years. All our physicians are board-certified in pediatric gastroenterology (GI) and are members of subspecialty committees for
national and international GI organizations. Our philosophy is to provide the same level of care to our patients as we would want for our own family members. We treat our patients and families with
respect and dignity as we deliver nationally recognized care at 12 locations across Central Florida. We strive for excellence in clinical care and take pride in teaching medical students, residents, advanced nurse practitioner students, and pediatric gastroenterology fellows. Our center includes pediatric nurse practitioners, pediatric dietitians, a developmental psychologist, a clinical social worker, and nurse coordinators. Our registered pediatric dietitians provide full nutritional and dietary assessment and education. We also work closely with our other subspecialty colleagues to provide comprehensive, coordinated care for each child. We have developed and participated in many programs to meet the critical needs of families across the region.

Our subspecialty programs include:

• Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center of Excellence participating in Improve Care Now and caring for over 600 children with inflammatory bowel disease
• Celiac Disease and Gluten Sensitivity Disorders
• The largest complete Neurogastroenterology and Motility Center in the Southeast U.S., performing esophageal, antroduodenal, and colonic motility as well as Endoflip™ – functional luminal impedance planimetry
• Anorectal Dysfunction Program utilizing anorectal manometry and biofeedback to help in the treatment of defecation disorders
• Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EoE) and Allergic GI Disorders Clinic with specialized testing, including non-sedated evaluation of EoE activity. We follow over 600 patients with EoE
• The multidisciplinary Aerodigestive Center, which includes GI, pulmonology, craniomaxillofacial surgery, and ENT, as well as speech pathology with the ability to do in-office flexible endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES)
• The Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children Feeding Difficulties Center, the largest intensive feeding therapy program in Central Florida
• Children’s Hospital Intestinal Rehabilitation Program (CHIRP), a multidisciplinary program caring for children with short bowel syndrome and intestinal failure
• Healthy Lifestyles Program
• Multidisciplinary Cystic Fibrosis Center
• Multidisciplinary Spina Bifida Program
• Liver Disorders Clinic
• Pediatric Liver and Intestinal Transplant Program for pre-and post-transplant care – the only program dedicated to long-term care of pediatric intestinal and multivisceral organ transplant patients in Central Florida
• Integrative Medicine Clinic to improve the quality of life of children with functional disorders
• Neonatal and Pediatric Nutrition Clinic providing evidence-based medical nutrition therapy to assist with children’s growth, early development, disease prevention and disease management
• GI Bone Health Clinic Our Pediatric Gastroenterology Translation and Diagnostic Lab has supported clinical care and allowed for continued research to improve the care of our children and families, resulting in over 40 nationally recognized research publications. From simple illnesses to complex chronic diseases, our team is here to care for children and their families.

RECOGNITION

PREMIER DOCTORS
Khaled Bittar, MD; Jeffrey A. Bornstein, MD; Justin A. De Boer, MD; Devendra I. Mehta, MD;
Shaista Syeda Safder, MD; Yamen Smadi, MD

TOP DOCTORS
Jeffrey A. Bornstein, MD

CONTACT INFORMATION

60 W. Gore Street, Orlando, FL 32806 | 321-841-3338 | ArnoldPalmerHospital.com/KidsDigestion