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Center hires child-abuse pediatrician Photo by Jim Craven Dr. Curtis Oddo is the Children's Advocacy Center's first full-time pediatrician, who specializes in treatment of abused children. Illinois specialist will examine kids at Medford advocacy site By JONEL ALECCIA An Illinois specialist in child sexual abuse has been hired as the first full-time pediatrician to staff the Children's Advocacy Center in Medford. Curtis Oddo, 35, will open his office Wednesday, effectively revolutionizing the treatment of abused kids in Jackson County, said center director Jane Hamilton. Beary Beary Brunch The Children's Advocacy Center of Medford will play host to one of its biggest annual fund-raisers with Saturday's Beary Beary Brunch. The ninth annual brunch will be served from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Rogue Valley Manor's Skyline Plaza. Top chefs from Rogue Valley restaurants and retirement homes prepare the feast. Last year's event raised more than $3,000 for the center. Tickets are $17.50 for adults, $15 seniors, $7 kids (6-12). Kids under 6 are free. For reservations, call 734-5437. "We have been looking for a year and a half," said Hamilton. "There just aren't a lot of people out there with experience to do this work." Oddo spent the past seven years as a member of the Lead Child Protection Team in child-abuse evaluations for a nine-county area in Illinois. The most immediate impact of Oddo's presence in Medford will be to more than quadruple the number of exams available to abused kids. Of the 600 to 700 children routed through the advocacy center each year, only about 80 of the most severely abused have been examined, said regional coordinator Marlene Nelson. Exams previously have been performed by a limited number of area pediatricians willing to work with the center. With the addition of Oddo, however, about 400 can be examined, helping to satisfy a state Legislature decree requiring that all children suspected of being victims of abuse be examined by a doctor. Oddo's duties also will include public education about signs of sexual abuse for teachers, day-care workers and health professionals, plus he will participate in a six-county network to assist other doctors. It's all part of a passion for children that grew out of private practice for Oddo, a bearded, bespectacled man who radiates a genial calm. "I see this as an opportunity to intervene," said Oddo, a graduate of the University of Illinois Medical School at Peoria. "I always see it as an opportunity, every time they come through the door. These children will know, even though something awful has happened, that there's a system and people who care." Oddo, the father of children ages 4 and 7, was drawn to specialize in a field that few doctors relish. In Southern Oregon, it has been difficult to find pediatricians willing to perform the exams that diagnose and confirm sexual abuse. "You have to have a special calling because it is hard to do," confirms Nelson. Oddo was called to his specialization by a belief that abused children need his services more than others, he said. Still, he acknowledged it's a difficult field. "You never get used to that part, to the stories, to what these children have gone through," he said. Oddo's position has been underwritten by Asante Health System, which will guarantee his salary and benefits. Payment for Oddo's services also will be supplemented by the center, by grant funds and by offender payments to victims. Acquiring a full-time doctor has been a longtime goal of the center, which has been designated as one of three regional treatment sites for child sexual abuse in Oregon. Staff members searched long and hard for a doctor with the expertise and the inclination for the work, Hamilton said. Fortunately, Oddo fills the bill. "He just has a real heart for children," she said. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA