Hoping to enhance pediatric care and reduce out-of-town hospital visits, Moses Taylor Hospital is pursuing pediatric specialists through its partnership with a well-known medical center.
The Scranton hospital, in a joint effort with Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, is planning to recruit at least two pediatric hospitalists - or physicians who specialize in caring for children - by August.
The recruits, who will work in Moses Taylor's pediatric unit but be employed by Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital, bring new expertise that would "strengthen" the hospital's quality care, said Mary Sewatsky, M.D. the hospital's chief medical officer.
She said the physicians will provide Moses Taylor with the "ability to care for more complex patients," thereby reducing the number of patients that must be transferred to a different hospital.
"It's so much easier for families to deal with their children that may be ill when they have everyone around them and when they are in an area known to them," Dr. Sewatsky said.
Eventually, the hospitalists will also provide on-site access care to children who have been admitted to the hospital, which adds another "layer of availability" and benefits local pediatricians, said Justin Davis, chief executive officer at Moses Taylor.
"It will allow them (pediatricians) to spend more time in their office being available for outpatients, while still being comfortable that their patients are receiving the highest quality of care," Mr. Davis said.
The hospital needs to recruit at least four full-time specialists in order to provide the 24/7 on-site access care, he said. And though he acknowledged "it's difficult to recruit everywhere," he said having a "well-known pediatric partner" is a significant advantage.
"Pediatric hospitalists are not that easy to find, particularly very-well trained and high quality ones," he said. "That's why we feel that Penn State Hershey is going to be so effective in assisting us in recruiting top quality physicians."
Though it's not run out of the hospital, Geisinger Community Medical Center has a pediatric speciality clinic in Dunmore, which offers about 18 to 22 days a month of pediatric specialty care, said Dr. Michael Ryan, Chairman of the Janet Weis Children's Hospital.
Plus, health care providers at GCMC can communicate with specialists at the Janet Weis Children's Hospital in Danville via an electronic health record system.
"It's seamless care from CMC to Danville," Dr. Ryan said.
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