The Bulletin: November 2006

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

Children's To Create a New Research Institute Downtown

At the end of October, the Children’s Hospital Board of Trustees announced the creation of the Seattle Children’s Hospital Research Institute, which will be housed in two newly acquired, adjacent downtown Seattle buildings.

“Investment in research is critical to providing the best health care for all children,” said Dr. Thomas Hansen, Children’s president and CEO. “With the acquisition of these two buildings, we are now halfway to our goal of one million square feet of space to advance our research mission. These new state-of-the-art laboratory facilities will help us bring some of the best pediatric doctors in the world to Washington state.”

Children’s purchased the Life Sciences Building at 1900 9th Avenue, a laboratory building which formerly housed the biotech company Corixa, and acquired the Qwest Building at 1915 Terry Avenue through a lease with an option-to-buy contract. The two buildings, totaling 467,183 square feet, will be referred to as the “Seattle Children’s Hospital Research Institute.”

Children’s chose the downtown location next to the South Lake Union neighborhood to be near Seattle’s growing research community, including its partners, the University of Washington and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

The 307 Westlake building in South Lake Union, which Children’s is leasing, will gradually be vacated over the next year as those researchers and staff move to the new campus. Clinical research and administrative functions will remain at Metropolitan Park for the time being.

“This is truly an exciting time for research at Children’s,” said Jim Hendricks, PhD, vice president for Research. “With this new space we will be able to invest more toward our mission to prevent and cure the diseases that affect children.”

“We will have vibrant research programs in areas spanning from basic research in immunology to clinical research in behavioral health and diseases such as cystic fibrosis and cancer,” added Dr. Bruder Stapleton, pediatrician-in-chief and chairman of the Research Executive Committee. “We will invest in new, cutting-edge research to look at ways to prevent premature birth, cure genetic diseases and repair birth defects through bioengineering.”

For more information, view the press release or visit the Children’s Research site.

Emergency Department Fax Number

Please note in your Physicians Directory that the correct clinical fax number for the Emergency Department is (206) 987-3945. The numbers currently listed are for the administrative fax in the ED.

Children's, Kadlec Announce Partnership

Children’s and Kadlec Medical Center of Richland, Washington have announced the formation of a new partnership focused on infant and pediatric inpatient care. The agreement will initially focus on Kadlec’s pediatric hospitalist program and ultimately incorporate other components of pediatric specialty services for infants and children needing hospital services.

Collaborating with Children’s allows Kadlec nurses, doctors and other health care professionals to easily consult with their colleagues in Seattle. Sharing protocols and educational opportunities assures the finest, up-to-date pediatric practices are in place throughout Kadlec from the emergency department, to the nursery, to the dedicated pediatric unit, and across all of the clinical therapies.

“We’re pleased to be partnering with Kadlec”, said Dr. Charles Cowan, clinical director, Care Coordination Services at Children’s. “The word regional is part of our name, part of our mission of service, and while we’ve already been a referral center for Kadlec, collaborating with them in this way will further enhance this relationship.”

Children’s continues to provide specialty services at Kennewick General Hospital, as well as in several other Central Washington locations.

For more information, view the press release.

Children's Implements New CDC Flu Vaccine Recommendations

Children’s is offering the inactivated flu vaccine to hospitalized patients in a broader age range based on new recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Acting on new recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Children’s is making the vaccine available to:

All hospitalized children 6 to 59 months old (previously 6 to 23 months old)
Hospitalized children 5 to 18 years of age who are at increased risk for complications from flu because of underlying medical conditions, those with a weakened immune system and those who are receiving long-term aspirin therapy

The flu vaccine is also recommended for family members and others who care for children aged 59 months and younger.

Children’s will not offer FluMist, the live intranasal vaccine. The flu shot is preferred for physicians, nurses or anyone else having close contact with those whose immune systems are weak because of concern that the live intranasal virus will be transmitted.

Families will receive information about Children’s flu vaccination policy when patients are admitted, and can visit our Family Resource Center for more information. Please contact Dr. Glen Tamura by e-mail or at (206) 987-1918 with any questions.

Partnering With Parents for Hand Hygiene

Children’s recently launched a new phase of its hospital-wide campaign to promote hand hygiene. Parents are being encouraged to notice if their child’s providers have washed their hands, and to feel comfortable asking them about their hand hygiene.

This campaign draws on the lessons learned in the successful “Partners in Your Care” program developed by the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. The results of this program show hand hygiene compliance increases significantly when organizations encourage patients to speak up about hand washing. The Washington State Hospital Association is currently implementing an improvement initiative based on this program.

Considering the success of the University of Pennsylvania program, Children’s invites referring providers to encourage parents to ask about hand hygiene.

Classes Help Parents Care for Children with Autism

Children’s providers and experts from the community teach a series of classes to help families and caregivers learn about caring for children with autism. The classes are offered year round at Children’s in the evening.

Autism 101 is an introductory class that provides general information for parents of children recently diagnosed with autism. The Autism 200 series offers families and caregivers nine different classes on topics such as communication in preverbal and verbal children, addressing challenging behaviors, family relationships and the legal aspects of autism.

Providers and families outside the Seattle area can participate at teleconference sites in Tacoma, Aberdeen, Colville, Anacortes, Yakima, Wenatchee, Olympia and Longview. For more information, please contact Kelly Jensen by e-mail or at (206) 987-3664.

Children's Receives Patient Safety Award

Children’s recently received the Washington State Medical Association’s William O. Robertson, MD, Patient Safety Award for a project to ensure the safety of children with implantable devices during MRI procedures.

The project team created a tool that works with the Computerized Provider Order Entry (CPOE) system to standardize the process for identifying patients with implantable devices prior to MRI procedures. MRI technicians and physicians need this documentation because MRI scanners can cause these devices to shut down or malfunction. The new standardized process ensures providers will know when to take safety precautions.

“Since this tool was implemented in May 2005, 100% of patients with implanted devices have been identified prior to MRI procedures,” said Dr. Richard Molteni, Children’s vice president and medical director.

The Washington State Legislature established this award in 2005 to recognize innovative patient safety efforts in the ambulatory setting. The award was named for Children’s medical staff member Dr. William O. Robertson, who founded the Washington Poison Center. Robertson was recently honored for lifetime achievement in toxicology and poison prevention at the inaugural Friends of Mr. Yuk luncheon.

Children's Recognized for Organ Donation

In October, Children’s received the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Medal of Honor for Organ Donation at the Second Annual National Learning Congress in New Orleans. The HHS presents this award to the top performing hospitals in the country in the area of organ donation.

Children’s is the only pediatric hospital in the Pacific Northwest receiving this award, which honors leadership in this field and commitment to patients needing organ transplants, and donors and their families.

Goldberg Honored

Dr. Michael Goldberg of the Department of Orthopedics was honored as the Gayle G. Arnold Lecturer at the American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine (AACPDM) Golden Jubilee Meeting held in Boston in September.

Lecturers are chosen for their contributions to the understanding and management of neuromuscular conditions in children. Goldberg was honored for his work on measuring the functional outcomes of care provided to children with musculoskeletal disorders.

New Medical Executive Committee Members

Congratulations to the new Medical Executive Committee members. Dr. Anthony (Tony) Avellino, Children’s neurosurgeon, will serve as elected medical staff advisor. Community physicians Dr. Drew Fillipo and Dr. Emmanuel (Manny) Eusebio will join him on the committee.

Our thanks to Immediate Past President Dr. Linda Quan, who served on the committee for three years as an elected officer, and Dr. Greg Sliman, who served as an elected member for four years.

New Medical Staff and Allied Health Professionals

Welcome new medical staff members and allied health professionals.

Stephanie Acierno, MD, MPH, Surgery, UW
Jesselle (Elaine) Elaine-Marie Albert, MD, Critical Care, Children’s
Angela Czaja, MD, Critical Care, Children’s
Brianna Enriquez, MD, Emergency Medicine, Children’s
Sihoun Hahn, MD, PhD, Biochemical Genetics, Children’s
Jennifer Keagle, MD, Plastic Surgery, Children’s
Anjay Kumar Khandelwal, MD, Surgery, Harborview Medical Center
Christian Roth, MD, Endocrinology, Children’s
Benjamin Sun, DDS, Dental Medicine, Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic
Jennifer Wargula, MD, MSc, Rheumatology, Children’s
Esther Wender, MD, Pediatrics, Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic
Tracy Bradley, ARNP, Hematology-Oncology, Children’s
Madonna Gordon, ARNP, Emergency Medicine, Children’s
Janet Jacob, ARNP, Hematology-Oncology, Providence Alaska Medical Center
LuAnn Solsvig Webb, ARNP, Hematology-Oncology, Providence Alaska Medical Center

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.