Dr. Kathy Bradford is Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Hospital Pediatrics. She is a Pediatric Hospitalist and board certified in General Pediatrics, Pediatric Critical Care and Pediatric Hospital Medicine. She is currently the service line leader and medical director of the Acute Care 6th floor of North Carolina Children’s Hospital. She has an interest in the continuous quality improvement of the care and outcomes of hospitalized children, pediatric surgical co-management, family centered care, pill swallowing difficulty, choosing wisely initiatives, and clinical conundrums. Dr. Bradford received a BS in Chemistry from DeSales University and her Medical Doctorate from Pennsylvania State University. She completed a Pediatrics internship and residency at the University of Minnesota Hospitals and Clinics and a Pediatric Critical Care Fellowship at Stanford University. Her QI training includes completion of the Advanced Improvement Methods Course (AIMS) at the University of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Yellow and Green Six Sigma Belt training and Purple Belt (LEAN) training, and Team STEPPS Master Trainer certification. She has led and participated in numerous QI initiatives within the Children’s hospital, UNC Medical Center and nationally including opioid stewardship, sepsis recognition and treatment, integrated wellness for healthcare providers, timely hospital discharge, LOS reduction efforts, and improved interpreter access for Spanish Speaking patients. From 2015 to 2017 she was a QI coach for the EMPower project, a Center for Disease Control sponsored multi-year project that assisted rural hospitals throughout the United States to achieve baby friendly USA designation. She is the former (2016-2021) director of Quality Improvement for the UNC Department of Neurosurgery. Dr. Bradford is a previous course director for Introduction to Quality Improvement in Healthcare PubH 703, UNC Gilling’s School of Global Health. She is currently a member of the UNC IHQI Maintenance of Certification Review Committee, an approved sponsor of the American Board of Medical Specialties that develops, monitors, and approves quality improvement activities for MOC Part IV credit for UNC clinicians. Dr. Bradford founded the Pediatric Hospitalist program at University of North Carolina in 2006. She previously served as the Associate Pediatrics Residency Program Director at the Jefferson Kimmel School of Medicine/ duPont Hospital for Children from 2001-2004. Dr. Bradford was selected as one of the first IHQI Improvement Scholar in 2014 for her work regarding timely hospital discharge processes.
Kathy Bradford, MD
