History
In 1948, the Faculty of Medicine of the Slovak University in Bratislava (now Comenius University) was established in Košice, as a branch of the Medical Faculty of Comenius University in Bratislava. At the same time, the Department of Paediatrics was established from the unit for children, founded in 1924.
The first head of the Department of Paediatrics, from its establishment in 1948 until 1976, was prof. Ferdinand Démant MD. In the years 1950 – 1952, he was the dean of the Faculty of Medicine in Košice. Professor Démant significantly contributed to the development of health care for children in the region of eastern Slovakia. He was also very active in international organizations, e.g. since 1961 he has been a member of the Czechoslovak Commission for Cooperation with UNESCO. He was one of the founding members and later a member of the committee of the European Society for Pediatric Nephrology (ESPN). He became an honorary member of pediatric societies in France and Germany.
The Regional Children’s Hospital became the Faculty Children’s Hospital in 1976, which highlighted not only its medical but also its educational mission in the education of young doctors.
The head of the Department of Paediatrics in the years 1976 to 1991 was prof. Oľga Pavkovčeková, MD, CSc. In May 1982, the Department of Paediatrics moved to the premises of the New University Hospital at Tr SNP N 1, which significantly expanded the bed capacity and specialist outpatient clinics, including intensive care units. The Regional Children’s Hospital also operated as a workplace for postgraduate education of physicians in pediatrics and its professional specializations, covered by 4th Department of Paediatrics of the Institute for Further Education of Healthcare Workers. At the same time, under the methodical guidance of the Department of Paediatrics, paediatric units were built within the district hospitals of the East Slovakian region.
The successor of prof. Oľga Pavkovčekova, MD, CSc. in the years 1992 to 1999 became prof. Miroslav Šašinka, MD, DrSc., who significantly contributed to raising the quality level of pediatrics in eastern Slovakia. In the years 1999 – 2004, the department was headed by prof. Ľudmila Podracká, MD, CSc. who has contributed to the developement especially in the field of paediatric nephrology.
In 2004, after the pediatric workplaces moved from the premises on Moyzesova Street to the premises on Tr. SNP and the delimitation of the Paediatric Department, a Children’s Faculty Hospital was established in Košice. The Department of Paediatrics was renamed into 1st Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. Until 2013, its head was prof. Ľudmila Podracká, MD, CSc. The department hospitalized mainly patients with kidney diseases, pediatric patients with chronic rheumatic diseases, lung diseases – including patients with cystic fibrosis.
In 2004, the 2nd Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine was established, which was headed until 2013 by Associate Professor Milan Kuchta, MD, CSc. The department focused mainly on pediatric gastroenterology.
In November 2013, in connection with the building reconstruction of the CHFH 1st and 2nd Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine merged into the Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine of the Medical Faculty of UPJŠ and CFH. In the years 2014 – 2018, its head was prof. Ingrid Schuster, MD, Ph.D.
Present
Since 2020, the head of the Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine is Associate Professor Veronika Vargová, MD, Ph.D.
