Unsurpassed Care for Northshore's Youngest Patients

Partnership Means new Pediatric Specialists  Close to Home

                St. Tammany Parish Hospital’s increasingly comprehensive pediatric services include a just-opened Covington subspecialty clinic and enhanced pediatric treatment capacity in its expanding emergency department.Its strategic partnership with Ochsner Health System has created new opportunities to respond to the rising influx of young families to the Northshore.

                One in three patients in the emergency department, for instance, is under age 17, said Kerry Milton, RN, chief nursing officer. Providing additional specialized care for children through physician recruitment and other efforts has created a range of pediatric services that is unmatched in western St. Tammany Parish.

                “There is a need to respond and care for our changing population on the Northshore,” Milton said. “To do that, we are adding specialized medical services to allow families to remain here to get the care they need.”

                New and improved access to pediatric specialty care augments St. Tammany Parish Hospital’s established active staff of 40 local pediatricians, a 10-bed all-pediatric inpatient unit and round-the-clock access to board-certified neonatologists in its level III neonatal intensive care unit. Its range of outpatient pediatric services includes physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy.

                The June opening with Ochsner Hospital for Children of the pediatric subspecialty clinic on Tyler Street reflects a pediatric strategy that was a core focus for STPH leadership in 2014. Ultimately, the clinic’s staff will comprise 16 Ochsner pediatric subspecialists in cardiology, oncology, orthopedics, nephrology, infections disease, neurology, gastroenterology, surgery and urology.

                “We are excited about the partnership, and pediatrics is one of the areas where we see great opportunities with St. Tammany,” said Vincent R. Adolph MD, interim chair of pediatrics at Ochsner Hospital for Children.

                On the main campus, the emergency department expansion will deliver specialized treatment areas and equipment for pediatric emergency and trauma patients, further highlighting the hospital’s commitment to comprehensive pediatric care. Pegged for completion in early 2016, the expansion will include five pediatric emergency examination rooms and a pediatric trauma room.  Dedicated pediatric waiting space will feature kid-friendly elements to provide diversion and comfort to children and their parents.

                “To have that separate space will be a big benefit,” Milton said.

                A newly formed group of STPH emergency physicians and nurses will focus on continuous improvement in emergency care, including the expanding focus on pediatrics, she added.

                “The highly specialized staff on the hospital’s inpatient pediatrics unit further define what separates this hospital from others serving Northshore families,” said Cindy Ingram, director of women and children’s services.

                Registered nurses with more than 100 years of combined pediatric experience, including at some of the nation’s best-known children’s hospitals, staff is all-pediatric inpatient unit. Its team of pediatric hospitalists, led by Eduardo Hernandez MD, consults closely throughout the day with a pediatric nurse practitioner available at all times, Ingram noted.

                “This is a child-centered unit,” Ingram said. “Everything here is focused on kids, from the advanced training of the medical staff to features like the game and book room to kid-sized beds and a large aquarium down the hall.”

                STPH pediatric nurses are a vital component in a nationally recognized hospital nursing staff, including its 2015 Pathway to Excellence honor from the American Nurses Credentialing Center. The hospital is one of just three in Louisiana – and 130 globally – to receive the distinction.

                “Children are a lot different from adults, and our medical staff is highly experienced in the special care they need,” Ingram said. “We are offering more and more specialized services so families can get all the care they need right here in our community.”