Pediatric Kidney Care (Nephrology)

Our pediatric kidney speacialists diagnose and treat children with acute and chronic kidney disorders and hypertension.

Explore Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital's Pediatric Nephrology and Hypertension Program

To schedule an appointment or learn more about our pediatric kidney care team, call:

Kidney diseases can affect a child's quality of life in different ways. At Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital, our Pediatric Nephrology and Hypertension Program offers the medical expertise and support your child needs.

Our experienced team of pediatric nephrologists and other specialists provides comprehensive, compassionate care to infants, children and adolescents with acute and chronic kidney disorders and hypertension — all in an environment designed especially for younger patients.

Pediatric Nephrology at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital: Why Choose Us?

Our pediatric nephrology team provides outstanding kidney care that is tailored to every child and family with multiple locations in Broward and Palm Beach.
We offer:

Full-service kidney care: Our team includes board-certified physicians and pediatric nurse practitioners who have received special training in pediatric kidney care, including dialysis and transplantation.We offer the area’s only pediatric dialysis on-site with pediatric kidney transplantation.
Top-notch specialists: Our doctors have years of experience in pediatric kidney disorders, pediatric dialysis, pediatric kidney transplant, hypertension, and bone disease. They are committed to providing the highest-quality care to every child. We coordinate treatment plans that include your child’s pediatrician, as well as pediatric endocrinologists, pediatric urologists, medical geneticists, and other specialists.
Patient- and Family-Centered Care approach: Every member of our team strongly believes that involving patients and their families as partners and giving them a voice best serves the needs of your child. We offer training for home dialysis, and we educate families about local resources that can help them manage the impact of kidney disease on their lives.
Pediatric support services: Pediatric social workers and child life specialists use play, trained therapy dogs, and music to help minimize the psychological impact of a serious medical condition, painful procedures, and hospital stay. A teacher from Broward County Public Schools is available to help children work through extended school absences.
Child-friendly environment: Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital is designed with the needs of children in mind. Our interactive play area has toys and other activities to help entertain young patients.

Our Services

To schedule an appointment or learn more about our pediatric kidney care team, call:

954-265-9344

Kidney Transplant Team Supports Freddy

Meet Linda Chen, MD - Surgical Director, Living Donor & Pediatric Abdominal Transplant Program

I am a kidney transplant surgeon at Memorial Transplant Institute, Surgical Director of Living Donor Kidney Transplant at Memorial Healthcare System and Surgical Director of the Pediatric Abdominal Transplant Program at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital.

For nearly two decades I have cared for transplant patients, 16 of those years in South Florida, performing more than 500 laparoscopic living donor surgeries and about 2,000 transplant surgeries.

Glenn’s Kidney Transplant Story

Watch as Glenn, who received a Kidney transplant, and his donor mom, share what his care teams mean to them.

Meet Dr. Alex Constantinescu, MD - Pediatric Nephrology

Dr. Alex Constantinescu is the Medical Director of the Pediatric Nephrology and Hypertension Program, which guides children and their families through the diagnosis and therapy of various kidney diseases, as well as providing dialysis for children in renal failure, until a transplant is available.

Dr. Constantinescu is board-certified in pediatric nephrology. He is a graduate of the “Victor Babes” University of Medicine in Timisoara, Romania. After completing internships and residencies at hospitals in Romania and New York, he was a fellow in pediatric nephrology at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.

Subsequently, he followed an academic career at UMDNJ/ Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, in New Brunswick, New Jersey, where he became an associate professor of pediatrics and medical director of the pediatric transplant nephrology program until 2003 when he relocated to Florida.

Dr. Constantinescu has published numerous original research papers, as well as review articles in peer-review journals and book chapters. He currently is a clinical associate professor at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Nova Southeastern University and most recently Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at Florida Atlantic University. He remains active in teaching and research, with main focus in the area of clinical nephrology.

Primary Office
1131 N 35th Avenue
2nd Floor
Hollywood, FL 33021
Map & Directions

Phone
954-265-9344
Fax:
954-986-5122

Pediatric Kidney Transplant Recipient Graduates

See how Jermaine, who received a kidney transplant in 2016 at Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital, achieves a milestone.

Meet Dr. Karezhe Mersha - Pediatric Nephrologist

Karezhe Mersha MD. is a pediatric nephrologist who cares for patients with a variety of conditions including proteinuria, hematuria, nephrotic syndrome, glomerulonephritis, kidney stones, acute kidney injury, chronic kidney disease, hypertension, and before-and-after kidney transplantation.