Hospital Medicine

What is a hospitalist?

A hospitalist is a doctor who specializes in caring for children while they are in the hospital. Hospitalists oversee your child’s care during their stay and serve as the main link among your family, your child’s primary care provider and the specialists involved in their treatment.

What’s special about the Hospital Medicine team at Seattle Children’s?

Our hospitalists are pediatricians with specialized expertise in caring for infants, children and teens in the hospital. We care for children with both common and complex health conditions at Seattle Children’s hospital campus and at several hospitals across Washington. Your child and family are at the center of the care team
We listen to your concerns, explain your child’s condition and treatment options, and include you in decisions about their care. We coordinate with nurses, primary care providers, emergency medicine providers and medical and surgical specialists so that everyone caring for your child works from a shared plan.
When it is time to leave the hospital, we help prepare your family for the next steps and communicate with the providers who will care for your child after discharge.

Experienced care, available around the clock

Our hospitalists care for thousands of children each year and are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We provide careful evaluation and treatment while helping children and families understand what to expect throughout the hospital stay.
Improving hospital care for children

Our team works to make hospital care safer, more effective, more equitable and more responsive to the needs of children and families.
Quality improvement and patient safety

Our hospitalists lead and participate in efforts to improve communication, care coordination and patient safety. We use data and feedback from patients, families and care teams to improve how care is delivered, reduce unnecessary tests and treatments, and support safe transitions from the hospital to home.
Research and health equity

Our researchers study how to improve the quality, outcomes and experience of hospital care for children. This includes finding better ways to deliver care, addressing differences in access and outcomes, and helping children receive the right care in the right place. We collaborate with hospitals and researchers across the region and the country to turn what we learn into better care for children and families.
Education and training

We help prepare the next generation of pediatric healthcare professionals. Our hospitalists teach and mentor medical students, residents and fellows and provide education to other members of the healthcare team. Through Seattle Children’s Pediatric Hospital Medicine Fellowship, physicians receive advanced training in clinical care, quality improvement, research, education and leadership.

Services We Provide

Hospital Medicine providers care for children admitted with a wide range of general and complex medical needs. Depending on your child’s needs, a hospitalist may:

Evaluate and treat an illness or medical condition
Coordinate care with medical and surgical specialists
Care for children who have multiple or complex health needs
Help manage medical needs before or after a procedure
Communicate with your child’s primary care provider
Prepare your family for a safe transition home or to another care setting

Your child may be cared for by a hospitalist when their primary care provider does not provide care at Seattle Children’s or one of our regional hospital locations.

Our Hospital Medicine providers staff pediatric inpatient units at:

Who’s on the team?

Our hospitalists are board-certified pediatricians who specialize in caring for hospitalized infants, children and teens. They serve as attending doctors, overseeing the care plan and coordinating with your family and the other professionals caring for your child.

Seattle Children’s Hospital Medicine providers include:

Leadership

Shawn Leigh Ralston, MD

Division Head
Caryn E Avery, MD

Senior Medical Director for Children’s Employed Providers (CEP)
Abena Boateng Knight, MD

Vice Chair of Education and Associate Division Head, Hospital Medicine
Eric Coon, MD, MS

Associate Division Head, Research
Corrie Erin McDaniel, DO

Medical Director for General Medicine