By Josh Shepherd
Danielle S. Walsh, MD, FAAP, FACS, officially joined the UK College of Medicine Department of Surgery faculty on Friday, July 15. Along with a pediatric surgery practice at UK Children's Hospital, Dr. Walsh will serve as the surgery department's vice-chair of quality and process improvement.
She joins her colleague from the East Carolina University Brody School of Medicine, Dr. David Rodeberg, who came to UK several months earlier to lead the division of pediatric surgery at UK HealthCare and UK Children's Hospital.
Dr. Walsh is recognized as an excellent clinical surgeon, educator, and as a national leader in health care with a keen interest in pediatrics, surgical quality, and outcomes improvement.
During the last decade, as part of the clinical faculty of East Carolina University Brody School of Medicine, Dr. Walsh served as program director of the general surgery residency and director of surgical quality at James and Connie Maynard Children's Hospital. She founded Pirate Surgery, a private pediatric specialty group in Greenville, North Carolina. In addition to health care quality certifications, she is board certified in clinical informatics.
Dr. Walsh has held numerous national and international leadership positions. She served as President of the Association of Women Surgeons (AWS) and was elected to the Board of Governors of the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES). In October 2021, she was elected Chair of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Board of Governors.
She joins the pediatric surgery team at UK Children's Hospital consisting of five board-certified pediatric surgeons and three advanced practice providers. “It’s an honor to join a team of talented surgeons truly dedicated to the children of Kentucky. I hope to continue this pathway of excellence by taking a deep dive in how we can use data to optimize our care and the patient experience.”
Her postgraduate training includes a residency in general surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, during which she also spent two years as a fetal surgery and research fellow at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. She finished as a pediatric surgery fellow at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
"Dr. Walsh is an outstanding surgeon, a respected national leader in health care and a champion of quality improvement. It is indicative of the growing national reputation of the University of Kentucky Department of Surgery and College of Medicine that she has agreed to join our faculty," said William B. Inabnet III, the Johnston Wright Professor and Chair of Surgery.