Meet Dr. Chad E. Hamner

I was born and raised in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where I had the good fortune of spending most of my childhood surrounded by a loving, extended family. My father's side of the family, mainly rural farmers and laborers, was a stark contrast to my mother's family who were mostly college educated professionals. Together, they taught me the value of a hard day's work, satisfaction that comes with problem solving and seeing a job through to completion, fulfillment achieved from being able to share the fruits of your labor with your community, and humility knowing you must rely on the assistance of others to be successful. It is through these core values that I dedicated my life to surgery and serving the needs of sick and injured children.

My surgical training has carried me from Alabama to Minnesota, Ohio, and New York. I was fortunate to meet my wife during general surgical training at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where she was working as a nurse. We were blessed with our first son during my pediatric surgery fellowship at Cohen Children's Medical Center in New York. We moved to Fort Worth in 2009 when I joined the pediatric surgery staff of Cook Children's Medical Center. My family has grown, with the birth of two more sons, and we have felt embraced by the community of Fort Worth.

I am currently board certified in general surgery, surgical critical care and pediatric surgery from the American Board of Surgery, and I am a fellow of the American College of Surgeons. My clinical interests include trauma, critical care of neonates and children, congenital anomalies, tumors, minimally invasive surgery and chest wall deformities. I currently serve as the Medical Director for Pediatric Trauma Services and Co-Medical Director of Pediatric Critical Care Services at Cook Children's Medical Center (since 2010).

Outside of surgery, I enjoy spending time with my family. My sons are very active in sports and I often spend time coaching them and their teammates. My favorite hobbies include golf, working with carpentry or craft projects, drawing and cheering on Alabama football.

Services

  • Abdominal/gastrointestinal issues
  • Circumcisions
  • Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation
  • Genitourinary surgery
  • Head and neck masses
  • Neonatal surgical conditions
  • Pectus Carinatum
  • Pectus Excavatum
  • Robotic surgery, laparoscopy, thoracoscopy
  • Thoracic surgery
  • Tumors and malignancies
  • Vascular, dialysis and feeding access

Reviews

Average rating:

4.8
Questions were addressed
4.8
4.8 (30)
Provider explained things clearly
4.8
4.8 (30)
Likelihood of recommending this provider
4.8
4.8 (30)
Trust/confidence in physicians
4.8
4.8 (30)

What our families say

  • December 20, 2025

    Great experience every nice that came into room was really kind and helpful

  • December 20, 2025

    Doctors Hamner was great very professional and kind.

  • December 02, 2025

    The nurse and physician were excellent

  • December 02, 2025

    It was the best experience. Everything went smoothly.

  • October 22, 2025

    I had a great experience both doctors were very nice and helpful when it came to answering all questions I had and treated my baby with care

  • October 01, 2025

    Good

  • October 01, 2025

    It's all right

  • September 16, 2025

    Dr.Hammner is a wonderful surgeon and makes the kids feel very comfortable. He has always shown kindness to us and talked things through to where we understand it.

  • September 06, 2025

    The entire staff in this department were all informative, knowledgeable and personable. I appreciated how kind each person was and love how fast yet thorough our appointment was. Loved the ease of the entire experience.

  • August 23, 2025

    No bad experience.

  • June 27, 2025

    All of the staff was amazing

  • May 13, 2025

    I love the free valet, I love the people along the way stationed at the entrance to help point us in the right directions. It is stressful enough having to come in, it really helps having polite people there directing the traffic. We felt important, everyone we spoke to and saw was nice and helped us efficiently.

  • April 30, 2025

    Good experience. I left very impressed with the facility and everyone I encountered.

  • April 30, 2025

    Dr. Hamner was great. He was patient as I asked about 30 prepared questions regarding my unborn child's diagnosis. He did not make me feel rushed and explained everything thoroughly.

  • April 29, 2025

    Excellent surgeon

  • April 16, 2025

    The MA or nurse who got us into the room was so warm and friendly! She clearly enjoys her job. Keep up the good work!

  • April 16, 2025

    The experience was great. We were there a little longer than I expected, but I assume it's because the staff were caring for patients who needed some extra help. My answers on the wait time were honest, but I wanted to come here to say that I'm positive they were doing their very best. I would absolutely recommend them!

  • April 05, 2025

    The clerk at registration was very prompt and courteous, the clerk at the desk for the pediatric surgery floor was sweet and took the time to let us know there may be a delay in the appointment time and provided a reason without providing details, and was personable and had great customer service. Dr. Hammer and his nurse spent adequate time with us and our child regarding the reason for the referral to Cook Children's, his opinion on the matter and the reason behind it, and he just went above and beyond in his care and time.

  • April 02, 2025

    Dr. [...] and Dr. Hamner are great!!

  • February 22, 2025

    Both Doctor and Nurse were wonderful!

  • February 20, 2025

    Nurse [...] and Dr Hamner! Also the nurse that was with [...]! Super amazing and caring to my baby.

  • February 20, 2025

    No bad experience. Only great! Everyone who was involved from check in to check out were super informative and very sweet. We appreciate it as it eased our anxiety

  • February 04, 2025

    The team overall has been very prompt in every aspect of care. They have made this difficult journey more manageable as a parent.

Publications

Publications:
  • Hamner CE. Congenital Duodenal Obstruction. In Neonatal Surgery. Edited by Dolgin SE and Hamner CE. Singapore: World Scientific (2010 in press).
  • Hamner CE and Schaff HV. Surgical Management of Hypertrophic Obstructive Cardiomyopathy. In Advanced Therapy in Cardiac Surgery, 2nd Edition. Edited by Franco KL and Verrier ED. Hamilton, Ontario; Lewiston, NY: B.C. Decker. 2003, pp230-40.
  • Hamner CE, Groner JI, Caniano DA, Hayes JR, Kenney BD. Blunt Intra-abdominal Arterial Injury in Pediatric Trauma Patients: Injury Distribution and Markers of Outcome. J Peds Surg 2008;43:916-23.

Education

  • Medical school:
  • University of Alabama School of Medicine
  • Residency:
  • Mayo Clinic and Foundation
  • Board certifications:
  • General Surgery
  • Pediatric Surgery
  • Surgical Critical Care

Affiliations

  • American Pediatric Surgical Association, American College of Surgeons, Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma, Pediatric Trauma Society, North Texas Chapter American College of Surgeons, Society of Critical Care Medicine, Tarrant County Medical Society,Cook Children's Physician Network

Recognitions

  • Distinguished Physician Cook Children's Medical Center - Senior Consultant (2017)
  • Forth Worth Magazine Top Doctors - Pediatric Surgery (2012-2016)
  • Dr. Kaare K. Nygaard Travel Award for Basic Science Research - Mayo Foundation (2004)
  • Postdoctoral Grant - American Heart Association (2002-2004)
  • Clinical Investigator Award - Mayo Foundation (2001-2003)
  • Developmental Research Grant - Medtronic Inc. (2001-2003)
  • Developmental Research Grant - AstraZeneca Co. (2001-2003)
  • Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society (1998)
  • Phi Beta Kappa (1993)
  • Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity (1995-1999)

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