MDNews - Long Island

WINTHROP'S PEDIATRIC BOWEL MANAGEMENT PROGRAM FREDRIC DAUM, MD, is Chief of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition at Winthrop-University Hospital and Professor of Pediatrics and Clinical Scholar at Stony Brook University School of Medicine. Dr. Daum is also Medical Director of the Bowel Management Program at Winthrop. In this capacity, Dr. Daum has created a unique treatment for children with behavioral stool withholding and encopresis. His program emphasizes the use of oral laxatives and behavioral modification. Dr. Daum has an international reputation in this field. He is also Director of the first tele- medicine program utilizing these techniques by telephone to treat encopresis. When the family arrives at Winthrop, their car is valet parked, and a Child Life representative meets them in the lobby and accompanies them to their appointments for the day, staying with the child as long as necessary to alleviate any apprehensions. The Down Syndrome Program While the STAR Program is designed to make it easier for all children with spe- cial needs to receive more comprehensive medical care by devoting attention to their emotional states, Winthrop's Down Syndrome Program is specifically designed to ensure families who have children with Down syndrome have access to the complete multispecialty medical care. "Children with Down syndrome often have many medical problems and see multiple physicians, but their specialists rarely communicate," Dr. Rosenfeld says. "Instead of requiring families to come to the hospital on multiple days for various appointments, Winthrop has established a convenient program that facilitates scheduling multiple appointments in one day." Although the American Academy of Pediatrics publishes age-specific special- ist care recommendations for children w it h Dow n sy ndrome, Dr. K rilov estimates that compliance with these guidelines has traditionally been no higher than 50 percent, due both to cost and to families feeling overwhelmed as they try to keep up with the constant need to schedule care with numer- ous providers. Long Islanders also faced a dearth of local programs with coordinated spe- cialist services for children with Down syndrome, driving some families to travel to Boston for medical care, increasing costs and anxiety for all involved. In response, Dr. Rosenfeld and his col- leagues created the only program in the tri-state area that delivers comprehensive pediatric specialist care dedicated to children with Down syndrome. Winthrop's Down Syndrome Program is comprised of a pediatric geneticist and endocrinologist, a pediatric clini- cal psychologist, a pediatric registered dietitian and a social worker, all of whom meet patients and their families during their initial visit to Winthrop for an intake evaluation in which they assess the child's needs and determine which additional specialists should be included in care plans. Evaluations are reassessed every six to 12 months to identify age- specific needs. "The team creates an individual road- map for those children, which is given to Benzoni, who helps the family identify specialist providers and coordinate appointments," Dr. Krilov says. "She also sends a comprehensive summary to the child's primary care physician." Follow-up visits may involve any or several of 14 pediatric subspecial- ties including behavioral pediatrics, cardiolog y, hematolog y, nutrition, sleep medicine, gastroenterology and orthopedics, so inclusion of the intake evaluation and treatment plan is a critical component to coordinating care. Increasing Normalcy for Cancer Patients Establishing a tight-knit bond among physicians, children and their families is also key to Winthrop's pediatric cancer services. Attending physicians shepherd patients and their families throughout the treatment process at the Cancer Center for Kids (CCFK) to provide consistency during a tumultuous time in patients' lives. CCFK staff includes board-certified pediatric hematologists and oncolo- gists, hematology and oncology nurses, child psychologists, social workers, a Child Life specialist for care navigation, and a creative arts and music therapist. A lt hough inpatient ser v ices a re readily available, the CCFK is Nassau County's largest outpatient facility for treating pediatric cancer and blood Dr. Krilov and pediatric nurse Colleen Queally, RN, examine a patient. M D N E W S . CO M ■ MD NEWS Long Island | 9

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