New Pediatric Hospitalist Service
Effective September 1, Community Health Of Central Washington (CHCW) and Memorial Hospital are collaborating to offer a new service in Yakima-- a Pediatric Hospitalist Service (PH Svc). This is important information about how services will be delivered to newborn and pediatric patients admitted to Memorial Hospital. We are excited to bring this innovation to patients and providers in our community, and look forward to improvements in care and service for all of the people in our community.
Why We Have Started the Service
- Recruitment: Many pediatricians today prefer to limit practice to the outpatient setting. They need hospitalists to support their practice.
- Patient care: Pediatricians devoted to the care of hospitalized patients are able to bring a higher level of experience and expertise to the care of those patients.
- Service to Patients and Families: Today, many patients and families from Yakima and surrounding communities are directed to Seattle or Spokane because of limited capacity or expertise in Yakima. A dedicated Pediatric Hospitalist Service will serve them better, and use local resources more efficiently.
- Education: For 16 years, the CWFM Residency has been sending residents to Seattle Childrens Hospital for pediatric training. Now that will be provided right here in Yakima. Residents from Seattle Childrens will also rotate on the service.
How Does The Service Work
The PH Svc is staffed 24/7, every day of the year, by a pediatrician at Memorial Hospital.
Our pediatric hospitalists are:
- Dr. Benjamin Barsotti: "Benj" was recruited by CHCW to be a full time pediatric hospitalist, and is new to Yakima. He is from Portland, OR. He completed his MD at Thomas Jefferson Univ., and his pediatric residency at A.I. duPont Children's Hospital.
- Dr. Kerry Harthcock: Dr. Harthcock has been the acting director for the PH Svc for the past year. He will be taking a leave from his practice at YPA for a few months and serve as a full time pediatric hospitalist while he is recruiting for two or three additional pediatricians to join the PH Svc.
- Community Pediatricians: Pediatricians from YPA and from Yakima Neighborhood Health Services have joined forces to help get the PH Svc started. Together, they will rotate on the service until additional full time hospitalists are recruited. They include: Dr. Simms, Dr. Bartlett, Dr. Cazorla-Lancaster, Dr. Carlson, Dr. Jabile, and Dr. Prier.
The PH Svc physicians will admit and provide care for a wide variety of pediatric patients. Local pediatricians and family doctors can ask the service to routinely admit their newborn and pediatric patients, or to provide consultation. Specialists with pediatric patients can consult them. Physicians up and down the Valley can call them to arrange for transfer and care of their patients at Memorial.
How will the PH Svc effect the care of CHCW patients?
Effective September 1, all of our pediatric admissions to Memorial Hospital will be cared for by the PH Svc. To discuss admission of a pediatric patient, please call the Pediatric Hospitalist at 509-388-5321. When children from our practice present to the Memorial ER and need admission, the ER doctor will contact the PH Svc directly. The PH Svc has access to Chart Connect, and will message providers about the care of their patients. The situation with newborn patients is a bit more complicated. YPA physicians will continue to care for newborns destined for their practice. At CWFM, a resident and FM attending are assigned to care for the mother and baby when the prenatal care was provided by a CWFM resident or faculty physician. All other newborns will be cared for by the PH Svc.
Questions?
If you have any questions, contact Michael, Maples, MD. , CEP, Community Health of Central Washington at 509-574-6117
