Tampa General Hospital to Host Child Abuse Prevention Symposium to Raise Awareness and Combat the Cycle of Violence

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month and this year’s annual symposium will be broadcast virtually due to COVID-19 safety protocols.

Tampa, FL (April 6, 2021) – Tampa General Hospital is hosting a virtual Child Abuse Prevention Symposium on Friday, April 9, 2021 in honor of National Child Abuse Prevention Month. Speakers include Tampa Police Department detectives and medical professionals from both Tampa General and USF Health Morsani College of Medicine who will offer expert advice on identifying the signs and combating the complex crisis of child abuse and neglect.

Scheduled from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., the virtual symposium will address pediatric human trafficking, pediatric sexual assault, abusive abdominal trauma and trauma informed care (recognizing how trauma affects patient treatment). The day will conclude with a special pinwheel planting ceremony in the Tampa General rose garden, symbolizing the children who have suffered abuse. Over a two-year span, 7,000 children in the West Central Florida counties of Pasco, Polk, Pinellas, Hardee, Highlands and Hillsborough have been reported as abused to the Florida Abuse Hotline.

“In 2008, Prevent Child Abuse America introduced the Pinwheels for Prevention campaign. Research shows that people respond positively to pinwheels, which represent childlike whimsy and light-heartedness. It was their vision for a world where children grow up happy, healthy and free of abuse,” said Dr. Peggy Duggan, EVP and Chief Medical Officer at Tampa General. “I am so proud of our Pediatric Trauma Department along with TGH CARES for carrying on this special ceremony and all the work they do to care for the smallest and most precious of patients.”

“It is a sad fact that Hillsborough County ranks second in the state for the number of child fatalities called into the Florida Abuse Hotline,” said Dr. Carol Lilly, Medical Director of the Child Protection Team for the Florida Department of Health, Chief and Medical Director at USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and Tampa General Pediatrician. “Other counties served by Tampa General such as Polk, Hardee, and Highlands Counties rank fourth. In Florida’s 2020 Child Death Review – the top three causes of child death involve sleep-related infant deaths, drowning and inflicted trauma.” The Tampa General Children’s Medical Center is verified by the American College of Surgeons as a Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center.

The Child Abuse Prevention Symposium will be a live event with the option to ask questions and interact with the speakers. The registration cost is free for Tampa General team members and $25 for the community. To register, please visit: https://tghsecureforms.org/pediatric-trauma-symposium.

Continuing education units (CEUs) will be offered and participants must virtually attend the full session to receive credit. Partial CEUs will not be offered and a post test will be required. Symposium partners include the USF Child Protection Team, Mary Lee’s House, Healthy Start, and the Hillsborough County Children’s Board.

If you would like to learn more about child abuse prevention and how you can help, please visit: www.PreventChildAbuseFL.org. To report suspected abuse, call the Florida Abuse Hotline, 1-800-962-2873.

ABOUT TAMPA GENERAL HOSPITAL
Tampa General Hospital, a 1007-bed non-profit academic medical center, is one of the largest hospitals in America and delivers world-class care as the region’s only center for Level l trauma and comprehensive burn care. Tampa General Hospital is the highest-ranked hospital in the market in U.S. News & World Report’s 2020-21 Best Hospitals, and one of the top four hospitals in Florida, with five specialties ranking among the best programs in the United States. It is one of the nation’s busiest adult solid organ transplant centers and is the primary teaching hospital for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. With five medical helicopters, Tampa General Hospital transports critically injured or ill patients from 23 surrounding counties to receive the advanced care they need. Tampa General houses a nationally accredited comprehensive stroke center and its 32-bed Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit is the largest on the West Coast of Florida. It also is home to the Jennifer Leigh Muma 82-bed Level IV neonatal intensive care unit, and a nationally accredited rehabilitation center. Tampa General Hospital’s footprint includes 17 Tampa General Medical Group Primary Care offices, TGH Family Care Center Kennedy, TGH Brandon Healthplex, TGH Virtual Health and 19 outpatient Radiology Centers. Tampa Bay residents also receive world-class care from the TGH Urgent Care powered by Fast Track network of clinics, and they can even receive home visits in select areas through TGH Urgent Care at Home, powered by Fast Track. As one of the largest hospitals in the country, Tampa General Hospital is first in Florida to partner with GE Healthcare and open a clinical command center that uses artificial intelligence and predictive analytics to improve and better coordinate patient care at a lower cost. For more information, go to www.tgh.org.

ABOUT USF HEALTH
USF Health's mission is to envision and implement the future of health. It is the partnership of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, the College of Public Health, the Taneja College of Pharmacy, the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences, the Biomedical Sciences Graduate and Postdoctoral Programs, and USF Health’s multispecialty physicians group. The University of South Florida is a high-impact global research university dedicated to student success. Over the past 10 years, no other public university in the country has risen faster in U.S. News & World Report’s national university rankings than USF. For more information, visit health.usf.edu.