Two images merge in Julie Moretz’s mind as she remembers the events of Nov. 14, 2005.
The reality on that Monday nearly 21 years ago in the cath lab of what is now known as the Wellstar Golisano Children’s Hospital of Georgia was a technician standing on a box, towering over her 14-year-old son, Daniel, as he pumped on Daniel’s chest in efforts to resuscitate the teen after he’d coded during a heart catheterization. Sweat poured from the tech’s face as he and other health care professionals worked to save his life and cheered Daniel on, telling him he could make it.
As she watched, Moretz thought back a few years to a speaking engagement when Daniel wasn’t quite tall enough to stand behind a podium, so he stood atop a box to tell people about the heart transplant he’d received at the age of 8.
“If we had not have been patient and family-centered care, I would not have had the choice to be back there. Not every mother, not every father would want to be there to see that, but I had the choice,” said Moretz, who has been the executive director of patient experience and patient and family centered care at Wellstar MCG Health since 2017. She will be heading to Maryland in January 2027 to take the position of president and CEO of the Institute of Patient-and Family-Centered Care.
It was Daniel’s journey that led Moretz down a career path she never would’ve thought to have chosen, and it was her experience that led to changes at hospitals locally and nationally.
Moretz’s 1991 pregnancy with her youngest child was uneventful, seemingly normal, she said.
“Two days after Daniel was born, doctors told us he had congenital heart disease. They needed to do a catheterization to see how extensive it was,” she said.
Doctors found three different heart issues – coarctation of the aorta, transposition of the arteries and a single ventricle.
“Any one of those is life-threatening, but to have all three. They didn’t know what the outcomes would be. They didn’t know if he’d ever leave the hospital,” she said.
Before he was one month old, Daniel would undergo four heart surgeries, and Moretz had a lot of questions.
“Back in the day, I didn’t know what I didn’t know,” she said. “I was just a mom, really focusing on the best care for my son. I know even back then for him to get the best care, David (her husband) and I would have to be his best advocates.”
Some things didn’t make sense to her. Visiting hours for one. Why did she have leave to her critically ill son at 8 p.m. every night? It was policy, but that answer wasn’t good enough. Why did they have to leave the room when the doctors made rounds? Again, it was hospital policy. Why did they have to leave the room during nurse shift change? Yet another policy.
“Why can’t I be here? I’m going to be taking him home. My husband and I are going to be taking care of him,” she said.
She turned her “whys” into “why nots.” Why not allow parents to stay in the room rather than being sent to the waiting room.
“I started speaking up and asking questions, and I connected with Pat Sodomka…She was just named COO. We went out to lunch, and she listened to me. She heard my concerns. From there, we started the patient and family advisory council, the very first one, and I was the very first chair,” she said.
As part of the Medical College of Georgia Children’s Heart Program Volunteer Council, she spearheaded a huge fundraiser in the 1990s was called Doctors Who Cook. Physicians and dentists showed off their culinary talents to raise money for the Children’s Heart Program. Nearly 100 doctors served their dishes to about 700 guests for several years of the fundraiser.
They even published a cookbook called “Hearts of Gold” with Daniel as one of three children on the cover as well as Dr. William Strong, who was Chief, Section of Cardiology at the children’s hospital and Daniel’s doctor.
When the children’s hospital was built she provided insight on what would make it more family-friendly, and Daniel participated in the groundbreaking.
By the time Daniel was 8, he had had 10 surgeries, but the biggest one was soon to come. He learned he’d need a heart transplant when he was 8. He was at the children’s hospital in Augusta at the time, but would go via air ambulance to the children’s hospital in Boston, where he would have eventually have the surgery.
“He said he wouldn’t leave unless he was wearing a tuxedo with shiny black shoes. A nurse heard him say that and rented him a tuxedo. He flew in the air ambulance, and everybody was lined up to see this little boy with red hair in a tuxedo,” she said.
They would be in Boston for a few months, with her husband making regular trips back and forth to be with their two other children, Lee and Morgan. Julie’s father stayed with the older children while David Moretz was in Boston.
Daniel was convinced he’d have his new heart by Halloween. He participated in the Boston children’s hospital’s trick or treat event with Julie Moretz pushing him in a wheelchair telling everyone he’d soon have a new heart. At 3 a.m. Oct. 29, 1999, the call came. His new heart was ready.
Moretz recalled the change she saw in him after the transplant. He’d been so sick, so fragile before, but he thrived for several more years. Through the Make a Wish Foundation, he got to be the nation’s president, making a trip to Washington, D.C.
He was a featured Miracle Child on the Children’s Miracle Network. He was a charter member of the Children’s Advisory Council at the MCG Children’s Medical Center and only missed one meeting in nine years. He wanted to make sure children had a better hospital experience.
He attended school at Lake Forest Hills Elementary School and Langford Middle School.
But in November 2005, his mom noticed some of the same signs he’d had before his heart transplant and called his doctor.
The week before she’d been in a meeting with hospital officials to discuss “how families can be with their child during certain procedures; things such as resuscitation. I didn’t know it was going to be for my son,” she said.
Before he went back to have the catheterization, Moretz asked him if he’d want to have another heart transplant.
“I remember he was so out of breath, and he says ‘You know, Mom, I do. I do want to have another heart transplant because I do want to live.’ And those were the last words I heard him say before they took him to the cath lab,” she said.
Daniel died on Nov. 16, 2005, two days after coding.
Although she could no longer fight for Daniel, she did fight for other children and their families as well as adults who also have benefitted from family-centered care.
A year after Daniel’s death she moved from Augusta.
Moretz has been part of IPFCC, where she heads in January. She worked there as a director, planning seminars and international conferences for nearly seven years.
“She then became Associate Vice Chancellor for Patient- and Family-Centered Care at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) where she led the development of patient- and family-centered clinical and academic programs.
A longtime member of IPFCC’s national faculty, Julie has also served on numerous national advisory groups and boards, including the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) and the Association of Departments of Family Medicine (ADFM), where she was the first public, non-physician board member. Her contributions have been recognized with numerous honors, including the Women of Excellence in Healthcare Award, Make A Difference Award by the Healthcare Industry Access Initiative in DC, and the American Heart Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Her family’s story and PFCC journey were also featured in the PBS documentary, Remaking American Medicine, which highlighted MCG’s pioneering efforts in this field. Julie founded the Children’s Heart Program volunteer council, supporting children with heart disease and their families for 25 years.
She holds a Master of Public Health degree from The George Washington University and received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2024,” according to her statement about her new job on LinkedIn.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for more than 35 years. She’s won multiple Georgia Press Association awards, is the recipient of the 2018 Greater Augusta Arts Council’s media award and was named best local writer by readers of Augusta Magazine in 2024 and 2025. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here
