ATLANTA (April 23, 2019) – Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta has appointed James Fortenberry, MD, MCCM, FAAP, as Chief Physician Officer. Dr. Fortenberry, who previously served as Pediatrician-in-Chief and Interim Chief Physician Officer, will be a member of the Children’s executive team and continue to serve in a clinical capacity as a critical care medicine physician.
“Dr. Fortenberry has made an impact by leveraging his great relationships and trust with physicians and others across the System,” said Donna Hyland, CEO at Children's. “We can't think of a more qualified and trusted individual to take on this role.”
Dr. Fortenberry first joined Children’s as an attending physician in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Children's Egleston Hospital in 1992. He was named Pediatrician-in-Chief in 2009, having previously served as Chief of Egleston’s Division of Critical Care Medicine from 2003 to 2009, Chief, Medicine Service Line from 2009 to 2016 and Medical Director of Pediatric Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO), a service that provides support with a heart-lung bypass machine for gravely ill children with lung or heart failure.
Throughout his career, Dr. Fortenberry has been involved in a variety medical staff administrative and quality improvement initiatives. He has served in many capacities with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), Society of Critical Care Medicine, Extracorporeal Life Support Organization, for which he is past-president, and American Board of Pediatrics, where he served as the Chair of the Critical Care Sub-Board. He is an internationally sought-after lecturer on sepsis and novel therapeutic modalities. Last November, he received the 2018 Distinguished Career Award from the AAP Section on Critical Care.
A native of Atlanta, Dr. Fortenberry attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and received his medical degree at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University. Dr. Fortenberry completed his pediatric residency at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, N.C., followed by a fellowship in pediatric critical care at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, Texas.