The following describes pediatric surgery at Hurley Medical Center. For specific information regarding your child’s health and treatment options, please contact your Hurley physician or medical professional.

Providing the highest level of care

The Pediatric Surgery Department at Hurley Medical Center provides the highest quality care for young patients requiring surgery. Affiliated with Children’s Hospital of Michigan in Detroit, Hurley can accommodate all pediatric surgical needs. Most pediatric procedures are performed here at Hurley but occasionally the expertise of Children’s Hospital of Michigan is needed.

Our pediatric surgeons

Hurley pediatric surgeons perform inpatient and outpatient surgeries, as well as pre-surgical testing and patient consultations to determine the need for an operation. Consultations and preparation for surgeries are also conducted at Hurley Pediatric Surgery Clinic on Linden Road.

The Hurley Experience for you and your child: a parent in the Operating Room

For patients between 6 months and 12 years of age, under most conditions, we allow one parent to accompany him/her to the Operating Room until the child is asleep. After surgery, one parent can go into the Recovery Room to be there when the child wakes up and throughout the recovery process, as long as the patient is stable.

Family playroom/waiting room

To make the surgery process as pleasant as possible for the families of young patients, Hurley provides a pediatric playroom/waiting room specially designed for these family members. Soon, Hurley will have a new pediatric Short Stay area where sick children can be observed by Hurley medical staff for up to 23 hours, when they are not sick enough to be admitted to the hospital but are not quite well enough to go home.

Hurley Child Life Services

Hurley Child Life Services is a very important part of the Pediatric Surgery Department. These caring professionals recognize that undergoing surgery, and just being in the hospital, is often very scary for children. Play time with special equipment and the opportunity to ask questions help patients and families become comfortable with the process and understand what to expect on surgery day. The Child Life team also specializes in distracting children if they need to have a painful procedure.

Pre-surgical tours

Preparing a child or teenager for surgery is essential. To help reduce the fear of the unknown, Child Life specialists will take young patients and their parents on a tour of the surgical area before the scheduled procedure. Pre-surgical tours may include a virtual or actual tour of the surgical area, and can be scheduled by contacting the Child Life office at (810) 262-9577. Tours are recommended for children ages 3-17 and are best scheduled within a week of the surgery date. The Child Life Team can also offer recommendations for how to prepare your child for surgery if a hospital tour is not possible. 

The day of the operation

It is important that your child follows ALL instructions regarding eating, drinking and arrival at Hurley Medical Center or the operation may need to be cancelled. A Hurley Child Life Specialist will meet you on surgery day to help reduce fears and anxiety in an age-appropriate manner for your child and your family. Children ages 6 months-12 years may be accompanied by one parent to the Operating Room Suite while they go to sleep if the surgeon, anesthesiologist and parents feel this is safe.

Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals

As Michigan’s northernmost Children’s Miracle Network Hospital, Hurley Medical Center provides the best child-centered care in our region to every child who needs it, regardless of the family's ability to pay. Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals serve 17 million children and their families every year—more than any other children’s charity in the world—and 100% of the money raised here stays here. For more information or to donate, please click here.

Patient- and Family-Centered Care

Patient- and Family-Centered Care, a new way of delivering healthcare which involves the family in medical decisions, is at the heart of the way we approach pediatric surgery at Hurley. Whenever a specialist determines that an operation is needed for a young patient, the surgeon explains to the child’s parents what is going to happen, what complications might occur, what the risks are, and what type of outcome to expect. Our nursing staff follows this up with more detailed explanations so that the patient and family fully understand all details of the upcoming surgery.

Hurley Medical Center physicians perform pediatric surgery in 2 locations:

Hurley Medical Center – inpatient and outpatient surgery, testing, consultations
One Hurley Plaza
Flint, MI 48503        

Hurley Pediatric Surgery Clinic - consultations
Hurley West Flint Campus
1125 S. Linden Road, Suite 500
Flint, MI 48532