The Bulletin: December 2005

The Bulletin is a monthly newsletter for Children's and community providers.

Several Firsts in One Transplant Surgery

Children’s Heart Center surgeons performed a successful heart transplant that represents a number of history-making firsts for the Pacific Northwest and will significantly decrease wait times for donor hearts.

In addition to being the youngest (12 days) and smallest (7.4 pounds) patient to receive a heart transplant, the Redmond-area boy is the first infant to go from mechanical support to transplant, and is the second patient to receive a “mis-matched” heart, one of a different blood type.

Children’s surgeons performed the first ABO mismatched heart transplant in June on a 6-month-old boy from Lynden, Wash.

“The ability to transplant hearts of different blood types into infants will dramatically decrease wait times for donor hearts and save the lives of many children in our region who might otherwise die waiting for an organ of their same blood type,” says Dr. Gordon Cohen, chief of pediatric cardiothoracic surgery and co-director of Chidren’s Heart Center.

Clinic Wait Times Continue to Drop

The average clinic wait time for a new appointment is less than 21 days.

This measurement reflects the median number of days patients waited for an appointment in October and represents a 23 percent improvement from fiscal year 2004 and a 10 percent improvement over fiscal year 2005.

Clinics with the most dramatic improvements in October, compared to last year, were:

Adolescent Medicine (currently a median of 16 days)
Audiology (13 days)
Genetics (11 days)
Immunology (26 days)
Neurodevelopmental (21 days)
Neurology (24 days)
Otolaryngology (29 days)
Surgery (9 days)

Other clinics with wait times of less than 14 days are: Cardiology, Genetics, Hem-Onc, Neurosurgery and Transplant. Wait times are less than 21 days for: Craniofacial, Endocrinology, GI, ID/Virology, Nephrology, Orthopedics and Pain Management.

Access improvements continue to be a high priority for Children’s.

Rivara Elected to Institute of Medicine

Dr. Frederick P. Rivara has been elected to membership in the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (IOM) (view press release).

The institute provides unbiased, evidence-based, authoritative information and advice concerning health and science policy to policymakers, professionals, leaders in every sector of society and the general public.

Members are elected on the basis of their professional achievement and their demonstrated interest, concern and involvement with problems and critical issues that affect the health of the public. Rivara is one of 64 new members elected to the IOM and is the only new member from Washington state.

Rivara is the George Adkins Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Washington (UW), head of the UW Division of General Pediatrics, a faculty member at UW Child Health Institute, an attending physician at Children’s Hospital and Harborview Medical Center and a faculty member at the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center.

His career has been devoted to the study of methods to control injuries, specifically in areas such as bicycle and pedestrian injuries, motor vehicle injuries, alcohol-related trauma and intentional injuries.

His current interests include examining the cost-effectiveness of trauma care, the impact of domestic violence on women and children and the effectiveness of interventions in childhood and adolescence on later health outcomes.

His goal is to focus public policy attention on implementing programs that can have a long-term impact on the health of children and adults.

Clarification of Bladder Health Class

A recent flyer mailed to referring physicians contained incorrect information regarding the age groupings for Children’s bladder health classes.

Here is a clarification:

Families of new patients 5 and older with afebrile urinary tract infections, daytime incontinence and urgency and/or frequency issues should attend the Bladder Health class prior to their first appointment in the Urology Clinic
New patients 8 and older with nighttime wetting should attend the Nighttime Bladder Health class prior to their appointment
Patients with vesicoureteral reflux and febrile UTIs and boys with UTIs will continue to be scheduled for pedi-atric urology consultation appointments at the time of referral

If you have any questions, please see the pre-referral guidelines or contact a Urology nurse at (206) 987-2509.

Fall QuickLinks Provides Cancer Resources

A new issue of QuickLinks, the e-mail toolkit for health professionals caring for children and families in the Northwest, focuses on cancer care.

New Hospital Library Resource

Turning Research into Practice (TRIP) is a database providing citations for numerous national and international sources supporting evidence-based practice. It’s easy to search and provides one-stop shopping for these important statements.

Medical staff members will find a link to TRIP on the Hospital Library home page in the secure area of the Medical Staff Web site.

New Medical Staff

Susan Ashman, PhD, Rehabilitation
Marie Bleakley, MD, Hematology/Oncology, SCCA
Mari Dallas, MD, Hematology/Oncology, SCCA
Adam Goldin, MD, Surgery
Michelle Gurvitz, MD, Heart Center
Colleen Hanrahan, PA-C, Hematology/Oncology
Tracey Howson, MD, Pediatric Associates - Bellevue
Gail Kelso, MD, North Seattle Pediatrics
Cynthia Koudela, DDS, Orthodontics
Frances Malone, PhD, ARNP, Transplan
Rita Mangione-Smith, MD, Inpatient Medicine and CHI
Michael McDonell, PhD, Child Psychiatry
Tadashi Miyagawa, MD, Neurosurgery, UW
Ari Pollack, MD, Medical Informatics and Redmond Pediatrics
Susan Reimer, MD, Kitsap Children’s Clinic
Amy Schultz, MD, Heart Center
David Stevens, MD, Orthopedics, UW
Ruth White, ARNP, Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic

Grand Rounds

View the schedule of upcoming Grand Rounds.

Grand Rounds Online

View online versions of recent Grand Rounds.

On-Call Schedule

The on-call schedule for inpatient services can be found in the secure area of the Medical Staff Web site. It is updated on a daily basis.