The Bulletin: November 2005

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

Synagis Clinic No Longer Offered

In past years, Children’s has offered a Synagis injection clinic as a service to our community providers. Since most physicians now provide this service in their own offices, the number of patients using our clinic has consistently declined.

This year, Children’s will not offer a Synagis clinic.

We will attempt to personally contact all providers and patients who received this service from us last year. A list of alternative injection sites is available on our Web site, and will also be available on our Synagis information line at (206) 987-5088.

If you have questions, please contact Leah Bearwood at (206) 987-8995.

Clinic Wait Times Reduced

Children’s continues to reduce wait times for children seeking our specialty services.

More than 70 percent of the hospital’s specialty clinics have reduced wait times compared to last year. During the month of September, the average wait time for a new appointment across all clinics was 20 calendar days, compared to an average of 27 days in 2004.

In September, these clinics had wait times of two weeks or less:

Audiology
Cardiology
Endocrinology
GI
Genetics
Hem-Onc
ID/Virology
Nephrology
Neurosurgery
Pain Management
General Surgery

The Neurodevelop-mental Clinic’s average wait time was 17 days (down from 63 days last year), while Neurology’s was 29 days (down from 80 days last year).

Enhancing ED Communications

We continue to refine the Emergency Department (ED) Communications Center in response to physician feedback.

A system of checks has been added to ensure that the clinical information provided by referring physicians is added to the patient’s medical record and available to the treating care team. Callback requests are highlighted in the chart, and the attending physician ensures that all requested communication has been completed.

The Communications Center’s nurse specialists provide a streamlined and consistent process to ensure that the patient care team is aware of the information provided when patients are referred to the ED.

Direct discussion with the ED attending physician is always available. When referring a patient to the ED, please call the ED Communications Center at (206) 987-8899.

When faxing patient information, use the center’s dedicated fax line: (206) 987-3945. If you have feedback or suggestions about the new ED processes, contact Dr. Tony Woodward at (206) 987-1149.

Flu Vaccine Update

Based on recommendations from the CDC, Children’s is offering the inactivated flu vaccine to:

All hospitalized children 6 to 23 months old
Hospitalized children 6 months to 18 years who are at increased risk for complications from flu because of underlying medical conditions; those with a weakened immune system; those who are receiving long-term aspirin therapy

The flu vaccine is also recommended for family members and others who care for children less than 6 months of age.

Children’s does not offer FluMist, the live intranasal vaccine. FluMist is not recommended for physicians, nurses and anyone else in close contact with people whose immune systems are very weak, due to concern of inadvertent transmission of the live intranasal vaccine virus.

Families will receive information at the time of admission and can also visit our Family Resource Center for more information. Please contact Dr. Glen Tamura on (206) 987-1918 for further information.

Sand Point Way Construction May Cause Delays

Traffic lanes on Sand Point Way will be closed while a storm drain near the hospital is replaced. These traffic revisions may delay traffic and hospital shuttles.

The construction began Monday, Oct. 17 and is expected to last up to four months. Construction will take place along Sand Point Way in front of the hospital, from NE 50th St. to just behind the triangular building across the street from the main hospital driveway.

One southbound lane of Sand Point Way will be closed during the entire project. Work will shift to the other side of Sand Point Way during the last two weeks, causing an additional lane closure.

New Medical Staff Leaders

Congratulations to Children’s new medical staff officers:

Dr. Mike Dudas, president
Dr. Karen Murray, president-elect
Dr. J. Randolph (Randy) Bak, elected medical staff advisor

Their terms began Oct. 1, and, due to a change in medical staff by-laws, will last two years. The new medical staff advisor replaces the position of secretary/treasurer.

Great thanks to past president Dr. Linda Quan for her dedication and leadership; she will serve a one-year term as past president. Our thanks to Drs. Tracie O’Neil, Melanie Ito and Rob Roskin, whose terms on the Medical Executive Committee (MEC) have concluded.

We also welcome newly elected MEC members Drs. Ruth Conn, Matthew Allen, John Schreuder, Vinita Seru, Donald Shifrin, Sara (Kristi) Benda and Neil Kaneshiro.

Congratulations

Dr. Rhona Jack, division chief, Clinical Chemistry, has been named co-director of the Clinical Chemistry Post-Doctoral Program in Laboratory Medicine at the University of Washington.

She succeeds Dr. Kent Opheim, who has trained a generation of clinical chemistry post-doctoral fellows. Dr. Rebecca Slayton has been named director of the pediatric dental residency program.

Slayton will succeed Dr. Dennis Sipher when he leaves at the end of the year to take a position as residency director for a new program at Charlotte Hospital in North Carolina.

Congratulations to Dr. Carol Miao, Immunology Division, who was recently awarded a new four-year R01 NIH grant of $1 million. The title of her study is “Modulation of Immune Responses for Hemophilia Following Replacement Therapy.”

New Medical Staff

Eric C. Leuthardt, MD, Neurosurgery, UW
Claudia Pereira Maniglia, MD, Otolaryngology
Julianne R. O’Brien, ARNP, Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic
Sheela Sathyanarayana, MD, Emergency Department
Laligam N. Sekhar, MBBS, Neurosurgery, UW
Julie E. Wen, MD, Pediatric Associates

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.