The Bulletin: September 2005

The Bulletin is a monthly newsletter for Children's and community providers.

Hansen Named New CEO

Children’s Board of Trustees has named Dr. Thomas N. Hansen the new president and CEO of Children’s Hospital.

Hansen joins us from Columbus Children’s Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, where he was CEO and also chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University. He succeeds Treuman Katz, who will retire Sept. 30 after serving 26 years with the organization.

During Hansen’s 10-year tenure, Columbus Children’s has become one of the nation’s five largest freestanding children’s hospitals and one of the 10 largest pediatric research centers, as measured by funding from the National Institutes of Health.

He served as medical director at Columbus Children’s from 1995 to 1998, acting CEO from 1997 to 1998 and CEO since April 1998.

Hansen has held the position of chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health since 1995. He is board certified in pediatrics, neonatal-perinatal medicine and pulmonary medicine.

CON Granted for Small Bowel Transplantation

Children’s has been granted a Certificate of Need (CON) for small bowel transplantation by the state of Washington.

The hospital submitted a request for the certificate following the 2004 recruitment of two internationally renowned bowel transplantation experts, Drs. Jorge Reyes and Simon Horslen, to join Children’s team of accomplished transplant physicians.

Currently, there are no other providers of pediatric small bowel transplant in the WWAMI region. Conditions that will be treated with transplant include inflammatory disorders, short gut syndrome, and motility and absorptive disorders, where more traditional treatment has been unsuccessful.

The transplant team has developed policies, protocols and educational materials in preparation for the new program and has begun to waitlist patients for small bowel transplant.
Clinic Access Continues to Improve

The median wait time for new-patient visits scheduled in July and the first half of August improved by 22 percent compared to last year. Of our 26 specialty clinics, almost three quarters now have the ability to schedule new patients within three weeks; many have median wait times of two weeks or less.

Clinics with the most dramatic access improvements to date are:

Neurology (25 days in July and first half of August, versus 80 days last year)
Neurodevelopmental Medicine (25 days versus 63 days)
Pulmonary (21 days versus 36 days)
Genetics (two weeks versus three months)
Audiology (10 days versus 31 days)

Only five clinics currently have wait times in excess of 30 days. It is our goal to drive down wait times in all of our specialty clinics to 19 days or less by adding extra clinics and utilizing midlevel practitioners when appropriate.

King Leads Child Psychiatry

This month, Children’s welcomes Dr. Bryan King as department director, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. He will also serve as professor and division head, Child Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

King joins us from Dartmouth Medical School in New Hampshire, where he was a professor of psychiatry and child psychiatry. He is a distinguished researcher in the area of childhood autism and affective disorders, and his work has recently focused on the genetics of this group of disorders.

“Bryan will expand our child psychiatry training program, and is dedicated to increasing our consult-liaison program,” says Medical Director Dr. Rich Molteni. “Our thanks to Dr. Elizabeth McCauley, who provided excellent interim leadership over the past five years.”
Family Liaison to Streamline Complaint Process

Children’s has introduced a new Patient and Family Relations program to assist families with complaints or concerns. Patient and Family Relations Manager Mark Mendelow, MSW, will work with patients, families and hospital staff to help resolve complex complaints and grievances.

A member of Children’s staff since 2001, Mendelow’s background in social work includes 20 years of clinical and management experience in pediatric settings. For assistance with issues that cannot be addressed within the care team, families can call Mendelow directly at (206) 987-2550, or e-mail him.

Promoting Pediatric Health and Safety

Children’s and KONG-TV channel 6/16 are partnering on a new weekly segment offering parents timely news, tips and information about child health and safety. The segment, called “Good Growing,” airs on Tuesdays on KONG’s morning show, “Seattle Live,” and features Children’s physicians.

Parents can also find information about breakthroughs in child health and pediatric research on “Children’s HealthLink.” Hosted by Jean Enersen, “Children’s HealthLink” is a new, pediatric-focused version of the highly acclaimed “HealthLink” segment on KING 5.

“Children’s HealthLink” segments air on Saturday mornings and throughout the week during KING 5 newscasts.

For parents who prefer Web surfing over channel surfing, Children’s provides a variety of resources online in the “Child Health and Safety” section.

In addition to video of the “Children’s HealthLink” stories, parents will find information on topics ranging from seasonal issues such as flu vaccines, to symptom-specific child health advice, to resources for parents of children with special needs.

New Medical Staff

Arash Ahmadi, MD, Otolaryngology
Kym Ahrens, MD, UW Roosevelt
Bryan Ambro, MD, Otolaryngology
Maida Chen, MD, Pulmonary
Brian Coleman, MD, Emergency Department
Paul Kim, MD, NW Children’s Heart Center
Thomas Lendvay, MD, Surgery
Kari McCallie, MD, IICU Float
Scott Roofe, MD, Otolaryngology
Edouard Saade, MD, Anesthesia
Vivian Schiedler, MD, Ophthalmology
Nancy Setzer-Saade, MD, Anesthesia

Grand Rounds

View the schedule of upcoming Grand Rounds.

Grand Rounds Online

View online versions of recent Grand Rounds.

On-Call Schedule

The on-call schedule for inpatient services can be found in the secure area of the Medical Staff Web site. It is updated on a daily basis.