Pediatric Intestinal Rehabilitation Program

The UF Health Pediatric Intestinal Rehabilitation Program provides continuity of care to complex pediatric patients with intestinal failure. The program does this by combining the expertise of our pediatric surgeons, pediatric gastroenterologists, neonatologists, dietitians, pharmacists, nurses, social workers, occupational and feeding therapists, and other invested pediatric specialists.

Intestinal failure occurs when the intestine does not function normally to absorb fluid and calories, which patients of all ages need to grow and thrive. When the intestine cannot do its work, nutrition needs to be provided through veins (IV nutrition or parenteral nutrition). Intestinal failure can be the result of many medical and surgical problems, like necrotizing enterocolitis, gastroschisis, intestinal atresia, Hirschsprung disease and idiopathic pseudo-obstruction. Intestinal failure is also called short gut syndrome, or short bowel syndrome. Patients do not need to have an intestine short in length to be diagnosed with short gut. Those with a normal-length intestine that can only absorb nutrition like a shorter intestine can also receive this diagnosis.

The UF Health Pediatric Intestinal Rehabilitation Program is a multidisciplinary group that is dedicated to working with you and your child to manage your child’s condition, with the goal of weaning your child off parenteral nutrition. This is called achieving enteral autonomy, where all nutrition goes into the intestine, and the patient does not need any nutrition through the veins. Studies have shown that intestinal rehabilitation teams yield improved outcomes for patients because of all the different perspectives that the members bring to the table. The goal for every patient is enteral autonomy, but if a patient needs intestinal transplant, our team provides transition of care for best outcomes after transplant.

Meet the Team

Our intestinal rehabilitation team works together to develop patient-centered, evidence-based plans, guiding children and families to give them the highest quality of life possible.

• Medical Director Sam Cheng, MD
• Surgical Director Janice Taylor, MD, MEd
• Clinical Dietitian Daniel Stewart
• Diomel de la Cruz, MD – neonatology
• Catalina Bazacliu, MD – neonatology
• Josef Neu, MD – neonatology
• Pharmacist Jennifer Vazquez Perez, PharmD
• Dietitian Nada Radwan, RD
• Dietitian Katherine Kisilewicz, MS, RD, CSP, LD/N
• Clinical Case Manager Christie Snively, DNP, APRN, CENP, CEBP
• Nurse Danielle James, MSN, RN, RN-BC

Contact Us

For pediatric patients: (352) 273-9350

For inpatient neonatal transfers: 1-800-987-2673

For questions related to our program, referrals and non-urgent medical issues, please contact our Program Coordinator Sara Dwyer and our administrative team at peds-gas-admin@peds.ufl.edu. For patient appointments and transfers, please call one of the phone numbers above.

Our community and patient programs provide great value to patients, families and loved ones. People can find support, educational materials, expert consultants and more. In most instances, these programs are offered free of charge.