WellStar Kennestone Hospital opened a new inpatient pediatric unit earlier this month. Previously, Cobb County did not have an inpatient pediatric unit, forcing families to leave their community to receive hospital-based care.
The 4,700 sq. ft. unit is staffed 24/7 exclusively by pediatric-trained caregivers including a team of pediatric hospitalists who remain on duty around the clock, pediatric nurses, pediatric respiratory therapists and a dedicated pediatric pharmacist.
“We took great effort to ensure that we were getting the ‘best of the best’ in pediatric care to serve on this unit,” said Avril Beckford, M.D., WellStar chief pediatric officer. “The child is at the center of everything we do. For the children of our community, we recruited the cream of the crop in pediatrics.â€
Lead Hospitalist Timothy Horton, M.D. comes to WellStar from Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles and Carrie Nalisnick, M.D., assistant lead hospitalist, joins the team from St. Louis Children’s Hospital. Additionally physicians Manpreet Dhillon, M.D. and Blaine Crosslan, M.D. will join the team. In all, 28 pediatric team members will work in the unit including nurses, respiratory therapists and support services.
The space features 12 private patient rooms for overnight hospital stays. Patients will benefit from a central monitoring system in each exam room, enhanced security, ultraviolet filters for infection control, and all pediatric-specific and pediatric friendly equipment.
