Vanessa Anne Olbrecht, MD

Anesthesiology

Primary Office

Nemours Children's Hospital, Delaware Nemours Children's Hospital, Delaware 1600 Rockland Road Wilmington, DE 19803 Appointment: (800) 416-4441

Get to Know Me

I am the chair of the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine at Nemours Children’s Hospital, Delaware and a professor of Anesthesiology and Pediatrics. I serve on the Board of Directors for the Society for Pediatric Sedation (SPS) as well as on the Executive Committee and am the chair of the Quality and Safety Committee. In addition to clinical work and education, I am dedicated to decreasing pain and opioid exposure in children undergoing surgery through the use of innovative, nonpharmacologic interventions. Outside of work, I enjoy spending time with my family, including my husband and 5-year-old daughter, Marcella. I love riding horses and traveling. I am incredibly excited to be back on the East Coast and at such a wonderful organization.

Why I Treat Children

They say that if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. I love taking care of children because of the impact I can have on their health and life, and the sheer joy found only in children. I am honored to have the responsibility for caring for someone else’s child and treating every child as if my own. 

What I'm Passionate About

I am proud to be at Nemours Children’s Hospital, Delaware and to have the opportunity to serve my patients, families and team each day. I am passionate about being innovative in finding new and better ways to care for children and supporting the amazing team with which I work. It is truly a privilege to provide this care to children and to work with such an outstanding group of individuals.

Education & Training

Fellowship

  • Pediatric Anesthesiology - Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, 2012

Internship

  • General Surgery - Massachusetts General Hospital/ Harvard Med School, 2008

Residency

  • Anesthesiology Perioperative Medicine - Massachusetts General Hospital/ Harvard Med School, 2011

Medical/Dental School

  • Doctor Of Medicine - Johns-Hopkins University School of Medicine, 2007

Board Certifications

  • American Board of Anesthesiology/Pediatric Anesthesiology
  • American Board of Anesthesiology

Insurance Accepted

  • Aetna Better Health PA Kids HMO
  • Aetna HMO
  • Aetna PPO/EPO/POS
  • Aetna PPO/POS/EPO
  • Ambetter Health of Delaware
  • Amerihealth Caritas DE - PENNSYLVANIA SPECIALISTS ONLY
  • Celtic Transplant Network for Ambetter
  • Cigna Lifesource Transplant
  • Cigna/Great West HMO EPO POS
  • Cigna/Great West PPO
  • Delaware First Health
  • Delaware Medicaid/Diamond State
  • Delaware Medicare
  • Fidelis Care NJ Medicaid HMO
  • First Health PPO
  • First Health/Affordable PPO
  • Geisinger Health Plan Commercial
  • Global Medical Managment DE/PA
  • Global Medical Mangment NJ
  • Health Partners Medicaid/Kidz Partner HMO
  • Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of Delaware
  • Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of Delaware *PA Loc Contiguous to DE*
  • Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of Delaware *PA Loc NONContiguous to DE*
  • Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of Pennsylvania
  • Highmark Medicaid Health Options
  • Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey
  • Independance Blue Cross/Amerihealth/Keystone Health Plan
  • Insurance Administrators of America
  • INTEGRA Administrative Group (ClaimsBridge)
  • Interlink Transplant
  • Keystone First Medicaid HMO
  • Lifetrac Transplant
  • Maryland Medicaid
  • Multiplan PPO
  • National Transplant (Humana)
  • New Jersey Medicaid
  • Olympus Managed Healthcare PPO DE/PA
  • Olympus Managed Healthcare PPO NJ
  • Pennsylvania Medicaid
  • Preferred Healthcare PPO
  • Private Health Care Systems (PHCS)
  • Private Healthcare Systems (PHCS)
  • Qualcare HMO/POS/PPO
  • Star Healthcare Network
  • Star Healthcare Network
  • Three Rivers Provider Network
  • Tricare/Humana Military Health Services/CHAMPVA
  • United Healthcare of the Mid-Atlantic
  • UPMC MCAID/CHIP PA DE
  • UPMC Medicaid
  • US Family Health Plan
  • Wellpoint Maryland Medcaid

Research Activities

I began my current research in the use of biofeedback-based virtual reality for pain management in 2018. Since then, I have received over $1.1 million in funding both for my research and device development and I currently hold an R34 from the NIH to develop a clinical trial protocol for the integration of biofeedback-based virtual reality in perioperative pain management. I look forward to the day when VR becomes part of everyday pain management. 

  • English