About Dr. Kathryn Bass

I’m an experienced pediatric surgeon with more than 20 years of experience, during which I’ve served in many leadership roles, including Professor of Surgery, Director of a Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center, and Co-Director of a Pediatric Wound Care Center.

I am a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and am certified in both general and pediatric surgery by the American Board of Surgery. I graduated medical school with honors from Northwestern University in Chicago in 1989. I did my general surgery training in Boston at Tufts University and completed my pediatric surgery training at the University of Colorado in Denver. I also earned an executive MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and have additional board certification in Wound Care Management.

I have expertise in minimally invasive surgery, surgery for congenital anomalies of the newborn, and chest and abdominal surgeries in childhood. My core research interests include trauma and wound care innovations. In addition, I’m passionate about the fight against gun violence.

My peers have recognized me as one of the nation’s leading pediatric surgeons, and I was honored to be a “Top Doctor” in Western New York in the pediatric surgery category for the past 11 years.

Personal Values

There’s nothing more precious in our world than our children. They’re our greatest gift and deserve our unwavering love and care. We all have an obligation to help them learn, grow and thrive — and I’ve committed my professional life to protecting and nurturing them.

I’m deeply committed to training and mentoring future generations of pediatricians and surgeons. I benefited from having outstanding teachers and it’s more important than even for students, residents and others to have caring and relatable role models. As a seasoned female surgeon, it’s especially important to share my knowledge and encouragement with aspiring female physicians, and with young girls interested in the sciences in general.

I believe in serving the underprivileged and assisting those in low-income communities as they battle the many social determinants of health that are stacked against them, including access to healthcare, healthy foods, transportation, safe neighborhoods and education.

I have a thirst for knowledge and continuing education, and encourage all of those with whom I work to continuously learn, improve and challenge norms/paradigms.

Dr. Kathryn Bass is one of the nation’s leading pediatric surgeons. She consistently ranks in the top 1% of peers in quality nationally, and she was named “Top Doctor” in Western New York in the pediatric surgery category for more than a decade. Most importantly, she cares deeply about children and their families. Taking care of and saving children is her life’s work, and she wants families to hear directly from her.

A Note from Dr. Bass to Parents:

As a mother myself, I fully appreciate and understand the concerns that all parents share for their children’s wellbeing. I demand of myself complete devotion to taking excellent care of my patients, which is what I have always done and will always continue to do. My work over the past 25 years reflects that.

Transparency is also very important to me, so I would like to take a moment and address an online article from several years ago about the care I provide to my patients. The article was unfortunately very misleading and missing vital context. I want to provide that context so you can fully and accurately understand the situation.

Complications can occur when performing an operation of any kind, and part of my job is helping families understand those potential, although highly unlikely, complications ahead of time. To resolve the case that was outlined in this article and prevent years of an exhausting dispute process, I ultimately chose not to contest one of the charges, without admitting to the claim as stated. I denied all other charges and I consented to the final agreement which included a formal reprimand and two years’ probation, during which another surgeon would temporarily oversee my practice and reviewed my records.

Third-party pediatric surgical experts, including a leader in pediatric surgical quality at the American College of Surgeons, and the state health boards in both Illinois and Texas (where I have also practiced medicine), reviewed the charges against me and found them to be completely without merit.

They took no action that would impact my license to practice medicine in those states. The Virginia Board of Medicine concurred and granted me an unrestricted medical license. Unfortunately, the original article did not include any of these details.

Over the course of my career, I’ve had the privilege of leading Level 1 trauma pediatric surgery teams and working alongside expert clinicians. Here’s what Dr. Michael Nussbaum, Senior Vice President, Professor, and Chair of the Carilion Clinic – Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine Department of Surgery had to say about my work: 

“Dr. Bass is a world-class surgeon who holds herself to the highest of personal and professional standards. As her full record shows, medical boards in three different states reviewed New York’s overreaching actions and found them to be completely without merit. Dr. Bass has been practicing pediatric surgery for over 25 years and, as a leader in the specialty, she ranks in the top 1% of her peers in quality nationally.

While recruiting her, we at Carilion thoroughly vetted Dr. Bass for nearly a year during that process, which included speaking to many highly respected peers in her field as well as leaders at her previous institution. Her abilities and commitment to her patients were uniformly praised, and the truth is, the world is far better because of surgeons like Dr. Bass.”

Michael Nussbaum, MD, FACS, MAMSE, Senior VP, Professor & Chair, Carilion Clinic – Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine Department of Surgery
I appreciate you taking the time to consider the fuller context of this story. As with most things one finds on the internet, there’s quite a lot happening below the surface—especially regarding unbalanced publications that rely on shock value rather than reporting all the facts. Despite this, I have been very fortunate in my career. I’ve had the privilege of helping children and their families in their greatest hour of need. And I’ve been part of a strong support network of colleagues and friends from across the country who have shown me great respect for my commitment, dedication, and skills as a surgeon.

In my quest for transparency, I’m including several questions below that patients and parents have asked me from time to time:

1. I read some concerning things online about a case you handled. Can you tell me what happened?

As a parent, I share the same concerns that all parents have when it comes to the wellbeing of their children. I am aware of an online article from several years ago that depicted aspects of a past case in my career, but unfortunately, it failed to include all the facts or present an accurate picture of the situation. Patient privacy regulations do not allow physicians to discuss details of any client’s treatment, but in general, complications can occur when performing an operation, and part of my job is helping families understand those potential, although highly unlikely, risks versus the benefits ahead of time. I’ve been transparent about the circumstances surrounding this particular case, and it was subsequently reviewed by numerous third-party experts that all found the allegations to be without merit. Further, my peers have recognized me as one of the nation’s leading pediatric surgeons, and I was honored to be a “Top Doctor” in Western New York in the pediatric surgery category for 11 years. And in terms of performance, I consistently rank in the top 1% of my pediatric surgery peers in quality nationally.

2. I read that a state regulator found that you deviated from accepted standards of care. How do you explain that?

A leader in pediatric surgical quality at the American College of Surgeons, as well as the state health boards in Illinois and Texas, reviewed these cases and exonerated me, finding the allegations without merit. They took no action that would impact my ability to practice medicine in those states. Virginia followed suit when they issued me my medical license shortly thereafter.

3. How were these concerns addressed when Carilion recruited you?

Before I joined the team at Carilion in 2021, I was vetted for nearly a year. The multi-layered recruitment process included speaking to many esteemed peers in my field and world-class leaders at my previous institution, who uniformly praised my abilities and commitment to my patients. After reviewing all of this information, including the conclusions of the medical boards in three different states and the opinions of a highly respected leader in pediatric surgical quality at the American College of Surgeons, Carilion welcomed and invited me to join its pediatric surgery team.