Colleen Kraft (Photo courtesy American Academy of Pediatrics)
Colleen Kraft was 5 years old and living near Akron, Ohio, when she attended a Head Start summer program for disadvantaged kids. “I was an early reader, and my teacher noticed this and told me, ‘You are so smart. You could be a doctor when you grow up,’ ” she recalls. That’s when Kraft decided what her career would be. When she went through medical school in the 1980s at Virginia Commonwealth University, she says, “It was just natural that I would return to care for children — perhaps as a nod to a program that changed my life trajectory.”
After more than two decades in Richmond, Kraft is back in Ohio. She is president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati School of Medicine and medical director for the Health Network by Cincinnati Children’s. She started working as a pediatrician in 1989 at Richmond Pediatric Associates and stayed with the practice until 2009. As academy president, Kraft will focus on “advancing child health through the practice of pediatrics” this year. “I want to go back to our roots,” she says. “I want to highlight what our pediatricians are doing to partner with schools, child care, foundations, managed care and behavioral health to better serve the needs of children in 2018.”
Richmond magazine: Can you talk about what you learned about the community regarding child care during your days as a pediatrician at Richmond Pediatric Associates?
Colleen Kraft: My development as a community pediatrician advanced in a profound way during this time. I learned about the illnesses and conditions of the children I saw in the office and connected this to the environment in which they lived. I recognized that kids spend minimal time in the pediatric office and that their health was directly related to the community in which they lived. Their child care, housing, food, recreation and family were the bedrock of their health and often the root cause of illness.
I also learned my role as a pediatrician was powerful. I could be the linchpin in tying together strategies that helped improve the community in which our children grow and develop. My influence on church nurseries, library programs, child-care facilities and school health programs could make the difference for a child in those settings. I learned that kids live in the community and that pediatricians need to be involved in the community in order for children to develop healthy habits and succeed in life.
RM: What types of issues did you advocate for in regard to child care and health?
Kraft: I advocated for child-care provider education, standards for child care, a medication administration program so that child care providers could learn how to provide medication, and for the business community to advocate for high-quality early education programs. I’ve advocated for home visiting programs like Virginia’s Families Forward, because these programs teach parents how to develop their child’s potential. The Virginia Early Childhood Foundation is a nonprofit that engages our business community to invest in our youngest children, who will eventually become their employees. I served on the board of this foundation for six years.
RM: Can you talk about working with the Healthy Child Care Virginia initiative? What was your contribution to that program?
Kraft: Healthy Child Care Virginia was a catalyst to developing a child care health-consultant program, effective licensing and education strategies, and overall professional development for child care workers. It elevated the status of child care workers from babysitters to early childhood professionals. I was available as a pediatrician and expert on child health to help guide the activities and policies promoted through this program.
RM: What is the Richmond-based nonprofit Medical Home Plus, and what does it do?
Kraft: Medical Home Plus uses families who have “been there and done that” to help other families navigate the system of care for their children. It also is the home for the Virginia Medication Administration Training program, which provides online training for child care workers and partners with on-site nurse educators to provide hands-on training in medication administration for child care workers. Most states have a child care medication administration program, but Virginia’s program is the best in the nation because we watch our child care professionals as they measure or crush or deliver medications for very young children.
RM: Can you talk about what was eye-opening for you regarding the community and what led you to start Medical Home Plus?
Kraft: I remember seeing so many kids in practice who were doing poorly in school or may have had special health-care needs and needed help with paying medication co-pays or buying wheelchairs or needing other services. Then I worked with families who knew how to obtain these services for their own children. They knew how to make life better for their family. So the idea was how could I gather their expertise and use them to mentor other families who didn’t know how to navigate the system? Every family should not have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to caring for their child.
RM: What’s next for you in 2019?
Kraft: Who knows? I may even try to come back to Richmond — I love Richmond and the pediatricians and families who live here.
