R. Lawrence “Larry” Moss, M.D., the president and CEO of the Nemours Children’s Health system, based in Wilmington, Delaware, and Orlando, Florida, is one of the nation’s most important leaders in the arena of pediatric healthcare policy. After practicing for nearly 30 years as a pediatric general surgeon and critical care physician, he went into healthcare administration, he came to Nemours in 2018, and since then, has not only been leading tremendous progress in all clinical, operational, and strategic areas at the health system, but also becoming a nationally recognized leader in the policy sector. Above all, Dr. Moss has become one of the most prominent advocates for children’s health at the federal policy level, in the U.S. healthcare system.
I’ve had the honor and the pleasure of interacting with Dr. Moss a number of times, and his vision, passion, and sincerity are unfailing. He is able to convey with tremendous clarity and precision just why policy leaders, including elected officials in Congress and in the state legislatures, need to rethink the funding of and support for, children’s health.
And Dr. Moss shares a story that is always impactful to hear; it’s about Wendell, a child who was injured in Albuquerque in 1994. Wendell lived in a housing project in a difficult neighborhood, one without adequate safe play spaces for children; and he ended up severely injuring his leg while playing around a metal trash can. Ultimately, he had to have his leg surgically amputated because of rapidly spreading necrotizing fasciitis, and had to undergo skin grafts on 85 percent of the skin surface of his body. And the point that Dr. Moss shares is this: had Wendell had easy access to safe play spaces, he would never had experienced that cutting and infection, and would never have had to have his leg amputated or undergo those skin grafts.
As Dr. Moss puts it, “It’s wonderful and a privilege to live in a country that has the resources to provide the most complex, high-tech, critical care, to kids who need it; but for many of them, some simple acts would prevent that need in the first place. And there’s nothing we could have done for Wendell” once his cut leg had become infected, other than to amputate and treat with skin grafts. “We need to focus on providing an environment of health for children, because if we invest in that, we can help to build healthy adults, rather than having to simply reactively treat sick and injured children. And my own personal journey around all this,” he adds, “comes out of practicing as a doctor caring for the less than 1 percent” of children experiencing significant illness and injury. “That is of course a wonderful privilege and incredibly rewarding; but it’s distressing to see that with a fraction of the resources, we could have such a wonderful impact on all the children. Nemours is in the business of creating health, not just treating disease.”
It truly is rewarding for me every time that I interact with Dr. Moss. Fortunately for our audience, he will be a keynote speaker at our Rocky Mountain Healthcare Innovation Summit, taking place at the Grand Hyatt in downtown Denver, on Wednesday, June 12. You won’t want to miss Dr. Moss’s important keynote address; nor will you want to miss the opportunity to hear from all of our speakers and panelists at that Summit, or to miss the opportunity to network with your peers.
It is always immensely clarifying for me to hear from leaders in our healthcare system who are investing their personal-professional capital in helping to move our entire healthcare system forward towards improved comprehensiveness, equity, and holism. Please join us in Denver to learn about the latest trends and to hear from visionaries like Dr. Larry Moss. Opportunity is awaiting you!
