News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 27, 2013
MEDIA CONTACT: Stephanie Poyant
Public Information Officer
Southcoast Health System
Office: 508-973-5280
Cell: 774-634-1460
poyants@southcoast.org
www.southcoast.org/news/releases/
World Class pediatric care now serving the South Coast community
Boston Children’s physicians provide 24/7 pediatric services at St. Luke’s Hospital
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Southcoast™ Health System is proud to offer world class
pediatric care to residents in the South Coast region through a clinical collaboration with Boston
Children’s Hospital — the pediatric hospital top ranked in the nation.
Boston Children’s physicians, working in collaboration with local physicians,
now provide 24/7 onsite pediatric care at St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford with
consultation provided for pediatric patients in the ER at Charlton Memorial Hospital in
Fall River and Tobey Hospital in Wareham.
“The collaboration with Boston Children’s Hospital, one of the country’s top pediatric
hospitals, brings state-of-the-art pediatric care to families throughout Southeastern
Massachusetts,” said Keith A. Hovan, President & CEO of Southcoast Health System and
Southcoast Hospitals Group. “This affiliation gives peace of mind to local families by providing
local care staffed by some of the very best pediatric physicians in the United States.”
Boston Children’s top-ranked physicians offer round-the-clock in-house pediatric
inpatient care in the newly renovated inpatient pediatric unit and are working with local
emergency medicine providers in the newly customized pediatric area in the Emergency
Department at St. Luke’s Hospital. These areas were designed to create a more private,
comforting environment for children and their families.
“We are pleased that Southcoast selected Boston Children’s to help provide care to
children and families across the South Coast region,” said Sandra Fenwick, President & COO of
Boston Children’s Hospital. “This collaboration is an extension of Boston Children’s Community
of Care where we work with community hospitals and physicians to provide high-quality
community-based pediatric care closer to home in lower cost settings.”
Inpatient Care at St. Luke’s
The newly renovated, dedicated inpatient pediatric unit at St. Luke’s Hospital features 22
inpatient beds. The pediatric unit was designed with kids and families in mind: a family room,
kid-friendly décor, family accommodations and an ample supply of toys and video games help
make the unit a comfortable place for children and their families. Seamless care if provided
between local providers and Boston Children’s physicians.
Emergency Services
When a child comes to the St. Luke’s emergency department, child- and family-centered
resources are available to provide you with the best child centric care in the most efficient manner
possible in collaboration with your local physician.
St. Luke’s now has a separate, dedicated and newly renovated waiting area and treatment
space for children within the emergency department, so children can receive the special
emergency care they need in a comforting and safe environment. Excellent emergency care for
children continues to be available at Tobey Hospital in Wareham and Charlton Memorial
Hospital in Fall River, and the emergency physicians there are able to consult remotely with the
Boston Children’s pediatricians at St. Luke’s at any time. If the decision is made to admit a
pediatric emergency patient who can be safely cared for locally, he or she may be transferred to
the pediatric inpatient unit at St. Luke’s.
Consultation Services
Through the collaboration, Boston Children’s physicians at St. Luke’s are not only able
to provide on-site care, but are also able to consult with the network of Boston Children’s
physicians and specialists.
For patients requiring transport to Boston, a patient’s radiology images and other clinical
documents can be sent electronically to Boston Children’s to facilitate care coordination before,
during and after transport. The collaboration also provides pediatric training and educational
support programs for Southcoast physicians, nurses and ancillary departments.
The Team
Southcoast’s pediatric team is made up of a dedicated group of physicians, nurses and
support staff with the single focus of caring for our patients.
The Boston Children’s physicians who make up the team at St. Luke’s have trained and
worked at some of the top educational and medical institutions in the nation. They now bring
their expertise and experience to the families of the South Coast. This team of physicians works
closely with the family and local physicians to deliver the best care available.
The nurses who work for the program have a wealth of experience in caring for children,
and all inpatient nurses have been certified in pediatric advanced life support.
Boston Children’s onsite Medical Director is Brian Sard MD, who is originally from the
South Coast region and returned to follow his passion of bringing top care back to his hometown.
“It brings me much pride to be able to lead a program that brings top-quality care to my
own community — for my neighbors,” said Dr. Sard. “We are dedicated to working with local
primary care practices and the Southcoast emergency medicine physicians to deliver outstanding
pediatric care and to reduce the need for patients to travel outside of the region for the care they
require.”
Also returning to the region to lead the program is Athena Xifaras, MD, Boston
Children’s onsite Associate Director of Pediatric services. Dr. Xifaras works closely with Dr.
Sard to implement and monitor clinical quality standards that are consistent with Boston
Children’s and other national guidelines to deliver the highest quality of care to the region. Dr.
Xifaras currently serves as a member of the City of New Bedford’s Board of Health.
Learn more about the Southcoast Regional Pediatric Program at www.southcoastkids.org.
About Southcoast Health System & Southcoast Hospitals Group
Southcoast Health System is a community based health delivery system with multiple
access points, offering an integrated continuum of health services throughout Southeastern
Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It includes the three hospitals that make up Southcoast
Hospitals Group — Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River, St. Luke’s Hospital in New
Bedford and Tobey Hospital in Wareham.
Southcoast provides advanced clinical services, such as open heart surgery, angioplasty
and heart rhythm services, comprehensive cancer care, neurosurgery, weight loss surgery,
orthopedic surgery, advanced imaging services and is the only provider of maternity services in
the region. Southcoast is a not-for-profit charitable organization that depends on the support of
the community to provide services. More information is available online at
www.southcoast.org. Connect to Southcoast through social media
at www.southcoast.org/connect/.
Southcoast™ is a registered trademark of Southcoast Health System Inc.
About Boston Children’s Hospital
Boston Children’s Hospital has been ranked one of the nation’s best pediatric hospitals
by U.S.News & World Report for the past 21 years. Boston Children’s is home to the world’s
premier pediatric research facility and is the primary pediatric teaching hospital of Harvard
Medical School. Boston Children’s Hospital Community of Care includes satellite locations,
affiliated hospitals and over 400 pediatricians across the state, with sites throughout Eastern
Massachusetts including Beverly, Boston, Brockton, Lexington, Methuen, New Bedford,
Norwood, Peabody, Waltham, Weymouth and Winchester. For more information about the
hospital visit: http://www.bostonchildrenshospital.org/locations.
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