Marc Levitt, MD, director of the Colorectal Center at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital in Ohio has led a remarkable monthly, week-long outpatient bowel management program that has gained international recognition. Typically bowel management programs dealing with children are operated by Pediatric Gastroenterologists in the Department of Gastroenterology. Dr. Levitt was disappointed in seeing his surgical corrections for children not responding to the usual gastroenterological approaches which led to his program that came to include very difficult cases of encopresis. He termed these cases pseudo-obstruction. They are functional disorders not requiring surgery. Nevertheless, the parents felt very reassured by his assurances and the success of his bowel management program. I have referred some of my Soiling Solutions parents on to him. I do not know what will be left of his program at the Cincinnati Children’s hospital. He will settle into his new position at Nationwide Children’s Hospital (NCH) in Columbus, Ohio sometime this coming spring. Here is the formal announcement of his move by NCH:
A New Bowel Management Program?
We are extremely pleased to announce the recruitment of Dr. Marc Levitt to the Department of Pediatric Surgery at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Dr. Levitt is a world-renowned expert in the care of children with imperforate anus, cloacal anomalies, Hirschsprung’s Disease and other complex colorectal abnormalities. Dr. Levitt joins us from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital where he was Director of the Colorectal Center for Children, Program Director of the Pediatric Colorectal Surgery fellowship, and Associate Director of the Pediatric Surgery Training Program. Dr. Levitt’s expertise in the care of children with complex gastrointestinal anomalies attracts patients from countries all over the world. Dr. Levitt will come to NCH as the Surgical Director of the Center for Colorectal and Pelvic Reconstruction, and as Director of the newly established Pediatric Colorectal fellowship. Dr. Carlo Di Lorenzo, Chief of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Robert and Edgar Wolfe Endowed Chair in Pediatric Gastroenterology at NCH, a world renowned expert in gastrointestinal motility, will be the Medical Director of the Center. Together with the international expertise of Dr. Steve Teich and Dr. Hayat Mousa in the surgical and medical management of intestinal dysmotility, and the well known bowel management program that Dr. Levitt provides for patients with fecal incontinence, we expect that Dr. Levitt’s recruitment will allow NCH to become the most renowned center for pediatric gastrointestinal disease in the world. Dr. Levitt will also be working closely with Dr. Rama Jayanthi, Chief of Pediatric Urology, who will address the urological needs of the complex patients cared for in the Center, and with Drs. Kate Deans and Peter Minneci, Co-Directors of the Center for Surgical Outcomes Research, to critically assess the clinical outcomes of the patients cared for in the Center. Dr. Levitt’s academic appointment will be in the Department of Surgery at The Ohio State University, which is chaired by Dr. Robert Higgins.
Dr. Levitt received his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and his medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He completed his general surgery residency at Mount Sinai Medical Center, a fellowship in Pediatric Colorectal Surgery at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, and a Pediatric Surgery fellowship at Children’s Hospital of Buffalo. After completing his training. Dr. Levitt was on the faculty at Children’s Hospital of Buffalo for two years, at Schneider Children’s Hospital, North Shore-Ling Island Jewish Medical Center for three years, and at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital for eight years.
Dr. Levitt has published over 120 manuscripts and 60 book chapters, and has delivered over 300 national/international and 100 local/regional presentations of his work. He has been an invited visiting professor all over the world. Dr. Levitt has trained numerous clinical fellows, research fellows and students in his career. He has directed numerous colorectal training courses attended by established surgeons and surgical trainees from all over the world. He dedicates much of his free time to mission trips around the world where he trains surgeons in his complex surgical techniques.
While it is clear from his academic accomplishments that Dr. Levitt is a superb surgeon with tremendous expertise, even more importantly, it is clear that Dr. Levitt is a superb human being. He is unwaveringly committed to the care of children with colorectal problems. He is tireless in his endeavors to provide the best possible care for these patients. He brings to Nationwide a wealth of ideas for ways to improve the care of these complex patients.
