Housecall

When babies are born at Columbus Community Hospital, expert pediatricians lead the team that cares for them in our maternal child health department and newborn special care unit. Those pediatric hospitalists also provide specialized care to children of all ages who are hospitalized at CCH.

Pediatricians are specialized physicians who care for children from birth to 20 years of age. They have three to four years of advanced training to care for your infant, child or teenager.

Pediatricians at work

Columbus Children's Healthcare has a staff of four pediatricians with decades of experience. While they spend most of their day in the outpatient clinic, they also provide pediatric care as needed around the clock at CCH.

"We are the faces you may see if any of your kids are sick or if you have a baby born at the hospital," said Margaret Egbarts, MD, FAAP.

Their wide-ranging care includes three specific areas:

Newborn exams. Pediatric hospitalists are there for a newborn's first days of life. They see babies daily in the hospital, performing each infant's first physical exam, which provides many parents with reassurance and confidence.

"We evaluate them head to toe," said David Rohwer, MD, FAAP.

Pediatric hospitalists also review and evaluate newborn screenings, including heart, hearing and metabolic tests. And, based on the mom's medical history, they monitor for any complications or health risk factors that may need early attention.

They also offer guidance to new parents on issues such as feeding a baby to help ensure proper growth.
"We talk a lot about safe sleep and SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) risk, and how you can participate in lowering that," said Kimberly Allen, DO, FAAP.

"Educating parents is a significant aspect of pediatrics," added Jon Kroenke, MD, FAAP. "The goal is to help parents feel more comfortable and confident about their children's health."

Specialized care for fragile newborns. Pediatric hospitalists also lead the team that provides specialized care for premature or ill newborns who need extra monitoring or treatment in the special care unit. They care for infants who may require support for issues such as breathing or feeding difficulties, infections and blood sugar problems.

At CCH, parents can see their babies in the unit as much as they want. There are private rooms and no visiting hour limits, which helps families stay connected throughout their baby's stay.

Inpatient pediatrics. The team provides routine care for hospitalized children. Team members manage common conditions, such as respiratory infections, dehydration, infant fevers and asthma exacerbations. They also offer consultations to other specialists at CCH and serve as liaisons to pediatric subspecialists at other centers when needed.

"There are some situations where children require a higher level of care and need to be transferred to a larger hospital," Kroenke said. "But we try to do as much care as we can here to keep the children local, as long as it's safe to do so."

"We are the faces you may see if any of your kids are sick or if you have a baby born at the hospital."
— Margaret Egbarts, MD, FAAP

Caring for kids in the clinic

In addition to providing infant and inpatient hospital care, the pediatricians with Columbus Children's Healthcare offer comprehensive primary health care services in their outpatient clinic. Well-child checkups; immunizations; same-day sick visits; and management of chronic conditions, such as asthma and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), are among the many ways they help support healthy growth and development for kids of all ages.

Whether they are providing care in the hospital or in the clinic, they say that being a pediatrician brings rewards.

"It's fun seeing kids grow up," Kroenke said. "And you get to interact with the families and almost become a little piece of their family. We're just trying to help them do the best job they can for their children by being a reliable source of information."

The team members say they also enjoy building generational relationships.

Dr. Allen has been here for 32 years. She often thinks about how rewarding it is to now be able to care for the children of the children who were born since she started the clinic.

Categories: Pediatrics