Floating Hospital and Lawrence General Expand Pediatric Affiliation
New Hospitalist Program to Benefit Pediatric Patients and Pediatricians
LAWRENCE (June 18) - Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center will begin providing hospital-based pediatricians to Lawrence General Hospital’s 20-bed Pediatric Unit, the two hospitals have announced. The presence of the pediatric hospitalists will ensure that a pediatric inpatient specialist is available at Lawrence General Hospital 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The hospitals plan to launch the service, an expansion of existing services that Floating Hospital provides to Lawrence General, in the fall.
“As the CEO of Lawrence General Hospital, I am committed to bringing the highest level of care here to the Merrimack Valley. As a former Pediatric nurse and as a mom, I know that having expert pediatric care close to home is vital. We are fortunate to have outstanding pediatricians and nurses in our community, says Dianne Anderson, President and CEO of Lawrence General Hospital.
“Together with the Floating Hospital team, we will now be able to bring pediatric specialty care close to home. Should a child need to be hospitalized, the Floating Hospital physicians will now be on site, here at Lawrence General Hospital, helping to care for them,” said Anderson.
A hospitalist is a board-certified pediatrician who specializes in the care of children admitted to a hospital. The pediatric hospitalist program will benefit children and parents in the Merrimack Valley by ensuring that a pediatrician is always available to hospitalized children. The Floating pediatric hospitalist will work in concert with a child’s pediatrician to coordinate hospital care and ensure a smooth transfer of care when children are released from the hospital.
“Community pediatricians are excited to welcome the new Pediatric Hospitalist Program to Lawrence General Hospital. This program will improve quality of care to our hospitalized patients with twenty-four hour a day access to skilled pediatricians. Our children will now benefit from the best of both worlds – the comfort and convenience of care so close to home and direct access to top-notch tertiary pediatric resources at Floating Hospital for Children,” said Kenneth Chan, MD of Andover Pediatrics.
Since 1997, neonatologists from Floating Hospital, experts in the care of newborns, have managed the Level II Special Care Nursery at Lawrence General, making life easier for their families. Tufts Medical Center also operates a Maternal Fetal Medicine Program at the Lawrence General, offering genetic counseling and care for women whose pregnancies are determined to be at high risk. Floating Hospital pediatric cardiologists staff a service for children with heart problems at Lawrence General.
“Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center is very pleased to support Lawrence General Hospital in its mission to provide pediatric care of the highest quality to children in their local communities. Standing behind them are all the resources of our world-class medical center for our youngest, most vulnerable patients and their families,” said John Schreiber, MD, Chief Administrative Officer of Floating Hospital for Children.
Floating Hospital also provides pediatric hospitalist services at MetroWest Medical Center in Framingham, at Morton Hospital in Taunton, and at Lowell General Hospital. The pediatric hospitalist program offered by Lawrence General and Floating Hospital rounds out the comprehensive services for women and children offered in the Merrimack Valley: high-risk prenatal care, nursery care, emergency care, including a Pediatric After Hours Center, inpatient care and the full support of a renowned children’s medical center in Boston.
Media Contacts:
For Lawrence General Hospital
Barbara Keller, Director, Public Affairs
bkeller@lawrencegeneral.org
978-946-8122
617-584-1246 cell
For Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center
Julie Jette, Manager, Media Relations
jjette@tuftsmedicalcenter.org
617-636-3265