By Vanessa Orr
For more than three decades, Jorge Jordan, APRN, has been providing life changing medical care to young patients, and assurance to families while their children are being cared for by KIDZ Medical Services, a South Florida multispecialty practice that cares for neonatal, pediatric and women’s health patients across 15 office locations and 19 hospital partner sites.
Jordan also plays a lead role in transporting extremely sick patients to higher-level facilities to meet their needs, all while training the next generation of nurse practitioners and physician assistants to carry on this legacy.
While Jordan originally planned to be a doctor, his father died when he was 16 and he could not afford to go to medical school. Instead, he was accepted to the Jackson Memorial Hospital School of Nursing, which gave him the opportunity to work in the NICU, pediatric ICU, emergency room, Cath Lab, SICU and trauma center, among other locations.
“Whenever overtime was offered anywhere, I took it,” Jordan explains of his depth and breadth of medical knowledge. “That’s how I earned the experience that I have.”
He later worked for a nursing agency, during which time he met neonatologists Dr. Albert Taño and Dr. Jorge E. Perez, the founders of KIDZ Medical Services. They witnessed Jordan’s passion and suggested that he train to become a nurse practitioner (NP), also encouraging him to seek admittance to Georgetown University’s program. Jordan was later employed by KIDZ, and he became the first nurse practitioner to work in a community hospital NICU and today serves as the director of nurse practitioners and physician assistants at KIDZ Medical Services.
“Dr. Taño and Dr. Perez had the foresight to bring nurse practitioners into community hospitals to provide much needed coverage because there was a shortage of neonatologists,” explained Jordan. “I was the first nurse practitioner at South Miami, Homestead, Baptist, Hialeah, North Shore and Palmetto hospitals—anytime we opened at a new hospital, I was the first NP there.”
In addition to his directorial role, Jordan also helps with fixed wing air and ground transport for babies who need to be moved from Level 1-2 facilities to a Level 3 facility like South Miami Hospital. “It can get very complex; these are very sick babies that need a higher level of care,” says Jordan of patients that may be extremely premature or suffer from respiratory problems, among other issues. “You never know what you’ll be dealing with until you get there, and this is where our experience becomes key.”
Jordan empathizes with his tiny patients’ parents, who are also going through a traumatic time. “It’s very important to speak to the families to let them know what’s going on with their newborns—they often feel helpless, because the NICU is a whole new world,” he explains. “Going through those double doors can be very scary, and it’s our job to ensure they know their baby is in the best care.”
Jordan has been involved in many milestone cases during his tenure, including being a part of the team that took care of the smallest, youngest baby ever born at Baptist Hospital at 21 weeks and transporting a 22-week-old baby to South Miami Hospital to receive Level 3 care.
“Both children are doing great; in fact, one just celebrated her quinceañera,” he said.
Jordan was also integral in helping to resuscitate a child born with no heart rate to a drug-addicted mother, who was later adopted by a waiting couple. “That couple had been trying to do IVF and adopt for years, and they were the happiest parents in the world,” he said. “I’m truly blessed to be a part of their lives.”
Jordan finds passing on his knowledge by training new PAs and nurse practitioners extremely rewarding, and this helps the KIDZ Medical organization continue to grow. “KIDZ has grown significantly through the shared vision of Dr. Taño and Dr. Perez, who worked hard to make it what it is today. But despite the growth, it’s still like a big family,” he said. “I talk to them almost daily and can call anytime, day or night. They truly have the best interests of patients and KIDZ’ employees at heart. I am who I am because of them.”
