A new Rocky Mountain PBS special chronicles the life and legacy of the late Steve Berman, MD, a pediatrician and faculty member at the University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine, who is remembered as a trusted mentor, beloved physician, and fierce advocate of children’s health.
Berman, who began his career at CU in 1978, died in 2023 of lymphoma. He was the long-time director of the Center for Global Health at the Colorado School of Public Health, started one of the nation’s first clinics for treating children with epidermolysis bullosa (EB), and championed several policy initiatives, including legislation that boosted childhood immunization rates in Colorado, improved pediatrician pay, and provided health care coverage to uninsured children.
A screening of the film “Steve Berman, An American Pediatrician” will be held Oct. 15 at Children’s Hospital Colorado, where Berman practiced for many years.
Beyond the exam room
In the film, colleagues of Berman said he was among the most compassionate physicians they’d known, and that wasn’t limited to his work with patients. He could often be found testifying in legislative hearings, penning op-eds for local newspapers, and helping draft bills for the causes he was passionate about.
Berman and his wife Elaine helped create the Colorado Children’s Campaign, a non-partisan nonprofit that centers research and data at the center of its advocacy.
“What has been special—and what Elaine and I are so proud of—is …the organization has been sustainable and has not only survived but it has thrived,” Berman said about the 30th anniversary of the Colorado Children’s Campaign in 2015. “When you’re present at the beginning of an organization and then you are able to look back and see that, it is probably one of the most satisfying parts of remaining involved.”
Former Colorado Gov. Roy Romer and Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien joined CU Anschutz faculty in the film in applauding Berman’s work, particularly around immunization rates in rural communities — Berman received a $5 million grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, essentially establishing the first immunization registry in the country — and advocating for CHIP, which created a children’s health insurance program. Romer’s approval in 1998 made Colorado among one of the first states to pursue a program expanding Medicaid programs to include newly eligible children and pregnant women.
A mentor for all
Across his career as an educator, Berman wrote four editions of his pediatric textbook, "Pediatric Decision Making," and authored more than 100 peer reviewed research articles and textbook chapters.
He also published a book on child advocacy and health policy entitled "Getting it Right for Children: Stories of Pediatric Care and Advocacy" and edited "Global Child Health Advocacy: On the Front Lines and the editor of the disaster course manual Pediatrics in Disasters (PEDS)," which was developed and is disseminated around the world in collaboration with the American Association of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization.
Berman’s legacy continues through his work and his mentorship.
“For so many of us, Steve Berman was our father in pediatrics—a mentor and a role model who taught us by example how to be better doctors and better people,” says Jamie Feinstein, MD, MPH, professor of pediatrics at the CU Anschutz School of Medicine, who appears in the PBS documentary. “I had the incredible privilege of seeing hundreds of patients alongside Steve. He always led with kindness — bending down to a child’s level, finding a point of connection, and showing that curiosity and compassion were the way to understand the family in front of him.”
Today, Feinstein directs the Children’s Hospital Colorado Multidisciplinary EB clinic, which Berman founded in 2001. Patients with EB have a rare genetic mutation that causes the skin to easily blister and develop wounds. With no cure and only a few approved medications, treating EB, which is fatal, can be challenging. Feinstein says working and learning alongside Berman has positively impacted him and the patients he serves – and it will continue to do so for many years to come.
“Steve approached every challenge as a serendipitous opportunity to be creative and forward-thinking,” Feinstein says. “When something wasn’t right for one of his patients, he simply set out to fix it — whether that meant creating a new clinic, advocating for a policy change, or leading research that would change how we care for children. Now it’s our turn to carry these responsibiliites forward, with Steve in our hearts guiding us.”
You can stream “Steve Berman, An American Pediatrician” online for free on PBS.org or register to see the film Wednesday, October 15, from 4–6 p.m. in Mt. Oxford, 2nd Floor Conference Center at Children's Hospital Colorado.
