The general pediatrics units provide a wide range of basic general pediatrics care, medical and surgical care and consultative specialty care for children of all ages, from infants to adolescents, in a family centered atmosphere. This comprehensive health care for children includes any diagnostic care, physical examinations, laboratory tests and consultation with pediatric sub-specialists needed to accurately diagnose and treat a child during hospitalization.
Children with long-term chronic illnesses, such as asthma and diabetes, as well as children with seasonal illnesses, like the flu or RSV, receive care in one of the two general pediatric units, general pediatrics “Miller West” and general pediatrics “Core.” The multi-disciplinary general pediatrics care team also has significant experience treating children with special health care needs, developmental disabilities, rehabilitation needs, chronic illnesses and those recovering from trauma.
The general pediatrics hospitalist program ensures that there is a general pediatric specialty physician at the hospital 24/7, providing pediatric specialty care, while staying in constant communication with the child’s referring primary care physician or pediatrician during the child’s hospitalization.
Both general pediatric units, general pediatric west (Miller West) and general pediatrics east (Core), are 50-bed units that provide quality, compassionate care to patients who are sick enough to be hospitalized, but don’t typically have a life-threatening illness or condition, such as children recovering from a major illness or injury.
Children with chronic conditions, who have an acute episode, may need to be hospitalized to get their condition back under control, such as children with respiratory diseases, asthma, diabetes, gastrointestinal conditions, urology and renal diseases.
The general pediatrics care team works to get children back to their maximum state of health and wellness, while teaching patients and their families about prevention of illness and injury, through:
- Care for acute and episodic illnesses
- Diagnostics care across the entire spectrum of childhood illness and problems
- Consultation with specialists
- Developmental and behavioral assessment
- Nutritional guidance for babies, growing children, underweight and overweight children
- Patient and family education on the condition and management of an illness
- Hearing screening
- Well-child evaluation and examination
Isolation Rooms
Isolation rooms are private rooms where patients who are immunocompromised or have an extremely contagious airborne disease receive treatment and care, without compromising their health or other patients’ health. Isolation rooms provide reverse airflow, ensuring that air doesn’t flow out of the room or flow in for those patients who are immunocompromised. There are negative and positive pressure isolation rooms.
Negative Pressure Isolation Rooms
Some of the isolation rooms in the general pediatrics units are negative pressure rooms. This means the isolation rooms are kept at negative pressure to limit movement of infectious agents from the room to other areas of the hospital. These rooms are primarily used for patients who have very contagious diseases.
Positive Pressure Isolation Rooms
Positive pressure isolation rooms are kept at positive pressure to limit movement of infectious agents from outside of the room and prevent them from coming in. Air supply is recirculated and filtered through HEPA filters to keep the air free of typically harmless fungus. These rooms are primarily used for patients who are immunocompromised and can't risk catching even a minor cold.
We offer dedicated 24/7, inpatient general pediatric coverage by board-certified pediatric attending physicians when a child needs to be admitted into the general pediatrics unit. When a child requires hospitalization because of a general pediatric health issue, our hospitalists — a group of hospital-based general pediatric physicians, who regularly treat and manage inpatient general pediatric cases — step in to act as the hospitalized child’s primary physician.
This benefits both families and their primary care physician, because they have a specific physician to go to, available at all times of the day, rather than a different specialist being rotated through each day. Also, hospitalists provide continuous attending-level care with general pediatric expertise, while still benefiting from a children’s hospital and having in-house access to pediatric sub-specialists if needed.
Benefits of the Hospitalist
- 24/7 attending-level coverage
- Access to pediatric sub-specialists when needed
- Experience in managing and treating general pediatric health conditions
- In-house knowledge of hospital routines and policies
- Direct communication with the primary care physician
- Daily rounding with parents for status updates and to answer questions at multiple times in the day
Continuity of Care
Hospitalists’ completely manage the child’s inpatient care during hospitalization, but keep communication lines open with the referring primary care physician. The hospitalist keeps the community primary care physician apprised of the patient’s status with timely updates, consultations and availability to discuss any issues. Once hospitalization is complete, the pediatric hospitalist turns care back over to the primary care physician.