El Paso is fortunate to have Dr. Bradley Fuhrman, a highly credentialed pediatric physician, as the first pediatrician-in-chief for El Paso Children's Hospital.

Not only is he credited by the Journal of American Medical Association as having literally written the book on caring for critically ill children, he invented the Fuhrman pigtail catheter now widely used to drain infection-caused air and fluid from around the lungs or heart.

Fuhrman's book is titled "Pediatric Critical Care." He is 65.

The $120 million, stand-alone hospital on the University Medical Center campus is due to open in February. It is a major footprint in the goal to make El Paso No. 1 in border-related health care and health research. It's a part of our growing Medical Center of the Americas vision.

And it will be the third major player on the MCA map, joining the expanding UMC and Texas Tech's new medical school that's located across the street.

Fuhrman said he chose El Paso, in part, because he can focus on hiring staff and purchasing equipment for treating children; there's no doubling of duties to consider the needs of adult patients.

His reach will also extend to the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L. Foster School of Medicine. There, he'll be chairman of pediatrics.

And he'll be teaching teachers.

"It (the job) was such a plum, I couldn't resist," Fuhrman said. "This is the opportunity for a home run, to put it all together and serve a population of almost a million to raise the bar for children's care in El Paso."

Larry Duncan, CEO of the El Paso Children's Hospital, said we have just landed "the father of pediatric critical care in this country."

Having Fuhrman here looks to be a major coup for EPCH, and for present and future partners in the growing Medical Center of the Americas.