Newswise — Baltimore, MD – Dana Silver, M.D., a pediatrician at the Herman & Walter Samuelson Children’s Hospital at Sinai, has been honored as the Pediatrician of the Year by the Maryland Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (MDAAP). She was selected for this prestigious distinction as a result of her ongoing leadership involving the health of children and her emphasis on education and legislation surrounding breastfeeding.
"Dr. Silver’s intense efforts to promote breastfeeding demonstrate her commitment to enhancing the health of children from the very beginning of their lives,” said Joseph Wiley, M.D., chief of Pediatrics at the Samuelson Children’s Hospital and medical director of Population Health at LifeBridge Health. "Infants and their mothers could not have a better advocate than Dr. Silver.”
Silver serves as the breastfeeding coordinator for the MDAAP; is a member of the Steering Committee for the AAP’s national Section on Breastfeeding and is the vice president of the Maryland Breastfeeding Coalition. Additionally, she represents the MDAAP on the Maryland WIC Advisory Committee and is working with Maryland Medicaid to clarify and improve breast pump coverage for Medicaid and Medicaid MCO families.
Providing breastfeeding education at conferences and at Maryland hospitals is also a passion of Silver’s. She has been diligently working to encourage hospitals to earn a certification called “Baby Friendly,” which involves meeting certain criteria to improve their support for breastfeeding mothers. She is also spearheading a campaign to encourage hospitals to stop distributing formula discharge bags to new mothers.
In 2013, Silver was named a fellow of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine and recently received a Visiting Lectureship grant from the AAP's Section on Breastfeeding.
In addition to caring for hospital patients and those in her own practice, Silver also teaches Sinai's pediatric residents and medical students from Johns Hopkins and the University of Maryland. Silver’s other specialty is child and adolescent behavior and development.
Maria Trent, M.D. was also a co-recipient of the Pediatrician of the Year award. Both doctors received the recognition during a recent awards ceremony.
LifeBridge Health is one of the largest, most comprehensive providers of health services in Maryland. In addition to Sinai, LifeBridge Health also includes Northwest Hospital, Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center and Hospital, and related subsidiaries and affiliates. For more information, visit www.lifebridgehealth.org.
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