UH Rainbow Pediatric Orthopaedics Division Chief Report 2025

Rainbow Orthopaedic Update | Winter 2025

As I look back at 2024, University Hospitals Rainbow Orthopedics continues to grow as we strive to improve access to care for our patients and pediatricians. Our same-day injury clinics, with the leadership of our nurse practitioners (Emily, Michelle and Nikki), have impressively grown on both the east side (UH Ahuja Medical Center) and west side (UH Westlake Health Center) of Cleveland. These clinics provide easy same-day, walk-in access for the children of Northeast Ohio who sustain fractures or other injuries. We are currently hiring two additional advanced practice providers and look forward to expanding clinic hours at these locations in 2025. As we enter 2026, we will expand to an additional location.

While access is a priority for us, we also strive to provide the most comprehensive, cutting-edge treatments for musculoskeletal conditions in the region. At University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s, we offer the very latest technology available to our diverse population of patients with wide-ranging orthopedic conditions.

On the leading edge of spinal surgery, we care for growing children with the latest technology and surgical techniques to make the care of these patients safer and tailored to their unique needs. With technology including robotic assisted deformity surgery, intraoperative navigation, patient-specific 3-D printed guides, ApiFix and vertebral body tethering, our team can take care of any child with any spinal problem. We offer the full complement of surgical techniques and enabling technologies for our patients and remain up to date on the latest research through participation in the two largest international spinal research groups (Harms Study Group and Pediatric Spine Study Group).

Our newest partner, Katharine Hollnagel, MD, is dual trained in pediatric orthopedics and hip preservation. She brings unique expertise and international relationships to provide regional leading quality and clinical care for children, adolescents and young adults with hip conditions. She is part of our expansion into the Hudson, Ohio, area, where we are now seeing pediatric patients at Western Reserve Health Center in Hudson. She grew up and Hudson and is excited to become the team physician for Western Reserve Academy in her hometown.

Academically, our team remains incredibly productive. We published more than 35 peer-reviewed articles, were invited to provide numerous lectures, and we hold leadership positions in national and international societies. Raymond Liu, MD, directs an ambitious team that continues to further our understanding of skeletal growth and maturity assessment. They developed tools that have been adopted across centers nationally. Mentorship is another priority, so our research team presents their work and represents UH Rainbow Orthopedics at national and international conferences stretching as far as Beijing.  

Our academic and personal relationships allow us to bring in fantastic visiting professors. We enjoyed time this past year with Noelle Larson and Stefan Parent, who brought wisdom and passion to their visits. In addition to the academic programming, we really enjoy spending time with them around Cleveland and showing off our hidden gem of a city.

It is a priority for me to have a team that not only provides excellent care but also promotes the strength of our UH Rainbow program through leadership positions and involvement with groups nationally and internationally. Chris Hardesty, MD, was promoted to the University Hospitals Residency Program Director in the past year and installed in the Harry E. Figgie, III Professorship in Orthopaedic Surgery. She also spent four weeks on the prestigious Scoliosis Research Society travelling fellowship and was asked to write the “What’s New in Pediatric Orthopaedic” section in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. All of these honors are a testament to the strength of the individuals we are proud to have in our group.

We look forward to 2025 as we continue our collective collaborative efforts to advance pediatric orthopedic care.