Pediatric Heart Care

Photo of a health care provider with a smiling baby
Doernbecher brings together experts from across OHSU to provide complete care for all types of children’s heart conditions.

OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital is a national leader in diagnosing and treating children’s heart conditions, from the common to the complex. We offer services you won’t find anywhere else between Seattle and San Francisco, including a cardiac ICU.

We offer:

  • World-class heart specialists who work in teams and around the clock.
  • Innovative treatments for even the most complex heart conditions.
  • Oregon’s most experienced catheterization providers.
  • State-of-the-art technology, including 3D imaging and home monitoring.
  • A dedicated cardiac intensive care team in our PICU.
  • Highly skilled surgeons who specialize in treating congenital heart disease.
  • Expert care at every step for women expecting a baby with a heart condition.
  • An ECMO (heart and lung support in the intensive care unit) Center of Excellence.
  • Oregon’s first accredited and busiest pediatric echocardiography lab.
A doctor showing a child a model of a heart
Every member of our pediatric heart team is trained in the care of children.

Complete care

No other hospital in Oregon and southwest Washington offers our level of expertise, technology and team-based programs for children’s heart conditions. You’ll find:

Photo of a smiling pregnant person talking to a healthcare provider
Expectant moms can count on expert care for a baby with a heart condition, before and after delivery.

Our teams also offer expertise in complex conditions, including:

Healthcare providers using advanced imaging technology with a young patient
We use advanced tools to identify and treat heart disorders in our young patients.

What makes our program different

Doernbecher is the top-ranked children’s hospital in Oregon and one of the best in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report.

  • We have the region’s largest and most experienced team of children’s heart experts.
  • Our heart team cares for more than 5,000 children a year.
  • We are the region’s No. 1 referral center for children’s heart disease.
  • Doernbecher holds Level 1 certification in both surgery and trauma from the American College of Surgeons.
  • Doernbecher’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit is the only one on the West Coast with a gold Beacon Award for Excellence from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. U.S. News & World Report ranks our neonatal care among the best in the nation.
  • The Extracorporeal Life Support Organization has recognized us as an ECMO Center of Excellence since 2013.
  • Our team improves children’s heart care by leading national research, setting high standards and sharing results.

Quality and outcomes

We’re proud of our surgery results and dedication to quality. We take part in independent quality reviews, and we voluntarily share surgical outcomes.

Research and innovation

Photo of a 3D-printed heart model held in a person's hand
Our experts use 3D models to diagnose conditions and plan procedures. Doernbecher heart researchers are also exploring the use of 3D printing in developing customized replacement heart valves.

As part of Oregon’s only academic health center, we bring the latest breakthroughs to your child’s care.

Partnerships: We work with leading organizations to explore new ways to identify and treat heart problems in children. They include:

  • The Western Society of Pediatric Cardiology
  • The American Society of Echocardiography
  • The American Heart Association
  • The American College of Cardiology
  • The National Pediatric Cardiology Quality Improvement Collaborative (NPCQIC)
  • The Marfan Foundation
  • SADS (sudden arrhythmia death syndromes) Foundation
  • The Pediatric & Congenital Electrophysiology Society (PACES)
  • The Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance

Registries: We offer families the chance to join national and international research registries. Voluntarily sharing information helps researchers see patterns and make discoveries. Families who take part learn about the newest advances.

Research: Our doctors are at the forefront of discovery and have published hundreds of scientific papers. Our research has helped us:

  • Create 3D models of patients’ hearts, helping us diagnose complex conditions and plan surgeries.
  • Offer a procedure that reduces complications after certain valve replacement surgeries. The technique, the Reinforced Ross Procedure, was first described at OHSU.
  • Use MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans to detect microscopic scars in heart muscle.
  • Identify children with heart-muscle disease who are at risk of life-threatening arrhythmias.
  • Better understand the genetic signs of connective tissue disorders, perhaps leading to blood tests to diagnose aortic disease and Marfan syndrome.

For families

Call 503-346-0640 to:

  • Request an appointment.
  • Seek a second opinion.
  • Ask questions.

Find resources and support.

Locations

Parking is free for patients and their visitors.

Doernbecher Children’s Hospital
700 S.W. Campus Drive
Portland, OR 97239
Map and directions

Find other locations across Oregon and in southwest Washington.

Refer a patient

‘I’ve never felt so safe’

See the parents of Sophia Kirkwood explain how Doernbecher repaired a rare and complicated heart defect so their daughter can thrive.

‘Full of life and love’

Photo of Doernbecher heart patient Foxy Kusin

Meet Foxy Kusin, a spirited toddler with Marfan syndrome. Foxy receives care for a related heart condition from our team at Doernbecher.

Living her best life

Photo of patient Melissa Nelson

Melissa Nelson was born with a heart defect. Discover how our unique-in-Oregon program is helping her manage her health as an adult.

Stay informed

News: Read about research breakthroughs, patient care and many other topics on the OHSU News site.