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“If you’re keeping what is best for that child at the forefront of your mind — you are never going to go wrong.”

In July 2024, UVA Health created a new Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine. Led by Chief of the Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine and Medical Director Elisabeth A. Rogers, MD — the dedicated Pediatrics Emergency Department (ED) reports up through UVA Health Children’s structure and welcomes anyone under age 21.

“We have the equipment, the knowledge, the training, and the resources to take care of all of it,” says Nurse Manager Alex Kasmere, BSN, RN, CPEN, TCRN, EMTP. “We have 12 beds and are averaging 55 patients a day."

Kasmere began his career as a paramedic and later moved into nursing, focusing on pediatric emergency medicine. He's been named by the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) as a 2025 Emerging Professional Liaison — a position on ENA’s board where he will provide professional perspectives and key insights during board meetings and other in-person events for a one-year term. 

Recruiting Rock Solid Candidates

In his role at UVA Health, Kasmere primarily has been focused on staffing. When the Pediatric ED first opened, he had eight nurses and one tech on his team. Now, it’s up to 22 nurses with two remaining open positions for charge nurses and eight techs, with three more open positions. “I’ve been interviewing, hiring, and onboarding like crazy!” declares Kasmere. 

Hiring is moving quickly, but without compromising quality. Kasmere is focusing on finding experienced nurses with a background in either emergency medicine or pediatrics. “The Pediatric ED is a specialty within a specialty, so you either need emergency department experience and I will teach you about pediatrics — or have pediatrics experience, and I will teach you about emergency medicine,” he says about recruiting the right team members.

Nurses who join the Pediatric ED get 46 hours of pediatrics-specific training in their first year on the job — and newly-graduated nurses attend the ENA’s residency program. “We have been diving into as much education for our staff as possible," explains Kasmere.

Calm in the Storm

But it’s not just experience he's looking for — it’s also an appreciation for how profound the work is in this department: “We have the privilege of taking care of somebody in their true crisis. In their absolute worst, we get to be that calm in the storm,” he says. “I’m looking for people to join this team who understand that we are busy, we work fast — but we are the rock in the ocean that gets pounded with waves the entire time and we are not going anywhere.”

Kasmere says support from Adult Emergency Department, UVA Health Children’s, and leadership — including UVA Health University Medical Center Chief Nursing Officer Kathy Baker, PhD, RN, NE-BC, FAAN — herself a former emergency department nurse — and Dr. Rogers, has been essential to Kasmere's success and that of the entire Pediatric ED. “The work Dr. Rogers has done to get the department up and running has been paramount to our success," hails Kasmere. "Everybody wants to make sure our kids are getting cared for.” 

Providing Unmatched Pediatric Care

And everyone expects that care to be top caliber: for the fourth year now, UVA Health Children’s is the #1 children’s hospital in the state, supporting our mission of transforming health and inspiring hope for all Virginians and beyond. “What that means for my Pediatric ED is we have to be the #1 Pediatric ED to go along with that,” Kasmere says, adding that that level of excellence means parents can trust they’re bringing their children to the right place. “We're going to give you the best pediatric care you can find! My nurses are going to have the most education. We're going to have the best resources. We're going to have the best team dynamics.”

That dedication helps Pediatric ED team members stay motivated in the face of challenging clinical situations. When they can’t pull off a positive outcome for a child and their family, they count on knowing they did everything they could. “There is something to be said about walking out of that room and knowing no one else anywhere would have given this patient a better shot," says Kasmere. 

As such, all of the equipment comes in a wide range of sizes to accommodate the smallest newborn patients to fully grown teenagers. “Everything we do has to always come back to the patient. And if you’re keeping what is best for that child at the forefront of your mind — you are never going to go wrong.”

The Passion Is Personal

Kasmere was inspired to start his career in the medical field after witnessing a high school friend die from an aneurysm and a stroke. The quiet, calm, efficient way the paramedics worked on his friend stuck with Kasmere, and he later went through emergecy medical technican (EMT) and paramedic training and then nursing school. As he worked his way up to becoming a charge nurse, he realized he had a passion for leadership. “I really enjoy getting to set people up for success and mentoring people,” he says.

That passion led him to get involved with the ENA, where he benefited from mentoring of his own and learned from other leaders in the field. 

Hitting the Ground Running

Learning is essential to his work in the new ED, too: the Pediatric Emergency Medicine Division improves care for children and their families, but it also increases education and career advancement opportunities for UVA Health team members. Kasmere’s previous work in pediatric emergency medicine had laddered up through adult emergency departments, not a children’s hospital. At UVA Health Children's, he’s now able to expand his horizons, learning more about labor and delivery and the NICU, for instance.

And the work isn’t done: It will take several more years to fully realize the vision for the Pediatric ED. But this early phase of recruitment and onboarding has been successful so far, by several measures. For example, many emergency departments nationwide aim to have fewer than two percent of patients leave without being seen. In October, that number was 1.3 percent for the our Pediatric ED. “For a new department and a new process, I think we are hitting the ground running,” Kasmere beams.