Contacts:
Bryan Gardner, Mercy, 916.851.2507
Phyllis Brown, UCD, 916.734.9023
Mercy, UC Davis Collaborate to Enhance Pediatric Services in the Community
Mercy and the UC Davis Department of Pediatrics have partnered to give families in the Sacramento region more convenient access to the best pediatric care available.
Through the agreement, UC Davis pediatric hospitalists will care for children who do not have a primary care physician and who are admitted to Mercy San Juan Medical Center or Methodist Hospital. Pediatric hospitalists are doctors who do not see patients in an office, but instead concentrate on the care of hospitalized children. Patients with Mercy Medical Group and other Mercy affiliated physicians can continue to be cared for by their pediatricians in the hospital. Mercy and UC Davis will capitalize on a national best practice of having pediatric hospitalists working in collaboration with pediatricians and pediatric nurses in providing high-quality care. The hospitalists will coordinate the patients’ care with pediatric subspecialists at Mercy and UC Davis as needed.
In addition, the pediatric plan utilizes telemedicine to give patients rapid access to pediatric critical-care specialists, as well as access to a wide range of pediatric sub-specialists; including endocrinology, nephrology, pulmonology, genetics and infectious disease. With the help of telemedicine, added expertise can be brought to the bedside of the hospitalized child to optimize the plan of care. The pediatric specialists can be miles away and yet can evaluate and interact directly with the patient, the family and the health-care team.
UC Davis is one of only 13 designated children's hospitals in California, and this collaboration combines the expertise of UC Davis pediatricians with Mercy's 70-plus years of experience providing the community with quality pediatric care.
"We are committed to working together to provide greater access to daily excellence in pediatric care that will be available to families in the north, south and downtown areas of Sacramento," says Tim Moran, Mercy's President for the Sacramento Service Area.
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sacbee.com
Oct. 13, 2009; Sacramento, CA - UCD, Mercy join forces to improve pediatric care at area hospitals - story by The Sacramento Bee's Bobby Caina Calvan.
The Sacramento Bee reports on a new three-year partnership between Mercy San Juan Medical Center, Mercy's Methodist Hospital of Sacramento and UC Davis Medical Center. The program is aimed at widening access to pediatric care at area hospitals, allowing children to receive the care they need closer to home. Read the full story...