Sacred Heart Health System and the Florida State College of Medicine have hired Peter Jennings, M.D., a board-certified pediatrician, as the new director of the Pediatric Residency Program based at Sacred Heart Children's Hospital.

In his new role, Dr. Jennings will oversee all clinical aspects of the Pediatric Residency Program, including the Pediatric Care Center and the Pediatric Emergency Department.

Prior to his employment at Sacred Heart, Dr. Jennings served for eight years as the Michigan State University Pediatric Residency Program and as an associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Human Development in MSU's College of Human Medicine in East Lansing, Mich. Prior to becoming the Program Director, Dr. Jennings served three years as the Assistant Pediatric Residency Program Director.

During his tenure, Dr. Jennings was a recipient of numerous Resident Faculty Teaching Awards. His research interests include Resident Education, Child Advocacy, and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

Dr. Jennings received his medical degree from Michigan State University in 1993 and completed his pediatric residency at the Medical University of South Carolina in 1996. Dr. Jennings and his wife Shawn have three children.

The Florida State University College of Medicine Pediatric Residency Program at Sacred Heart Children's Hospital is dedicated to training the next generation of pediatric physicians and has a strong emphasis on primary care and ambulatory medicine. The three-year program currently trains a total of 21 residents.

Since 1969, Sacred Heart Children's Hospital has provided quality, compassionate care to children across the Gulf Coast, regardless of their family's ability to pay. Located in Pensacola, Florida, the state-of-the-art, 128-bed hospital is the only dedicated children's hospital in Northwest Florida. Children's Hospital provides 55 beds for infants through teenagers, including the area's only Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, featuring 11 beds dedicated to the most critically ill and injured children. Children's Hospital also houses the region's only Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for the care of critically ill and premature newborns.

Dr. Jennings will be filling the position of Dr. Edward Kohaut, a board-certified pediatric nephrologist who has been the director of the Pediatric Residency Program since 2000. Under Dr. Kohaut's strong leadership, the program has grown 15 residents to 20 residents, and his dedication to the pediatric residents and advocacy for graduate medical education will be missed.

For more information on the Pediatric Residency Program, please call Sacred Heart at (850) 416-7658 or visit our website at www.fsuresidency-pensacola.org.