Affiliation with Stanford Provides Care for Special Babies
For numerous families in the Monterey Bay area, having a premature baby or a baby needing specialty care used to mean trips to the Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford more than an hour away. As some infants need close care for extended periods of time, this presented hardships for many families, especially those who had trouble getting transportation and time off work--and often time away from the rest of the family.
Dominican Hospital's partnership with Stanford's Lucile Packard Children's Hospital to operate a pediatric subspecialty clinic at Dominican eliminates that difficulty for most area families. "Having this local access to care is really a benefit," says Sister Michaella Siplak, who manages Dominican's Community Health Outreach Program--of which the clinic is a part. "This provides another access to care."
Under the partnership, Stanford pediatric specialists care for infants in several areas, including neurology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, hematology, urology, pulmonology, rheumatology, genetics, and infant development. These are unique specialties for which there would not be sufficient patients to support local subspecialists, and many of the Dominican clinics are completely full and are expanding to serve more families.
"We have a very strong affiliation with Stanford to provide the highest level of care for infants in the Santa Cruz area. Nearly all infants needing intensive, specialty care can now be treated here at home," says Dominican Neonatologist Magdy Ismail, MD.
For parents, having this exceptional care close to home is more convenient and reassuring. Local pediatricians also appreciate having the clinic's services for their patients.
