By ERIN PUSTAY
The Independent
Posted Feb 3, 2009
CANTON, OH — Getting from here to there was not as easy as it sounded for some Aultman patients. Families whose children needed to visit regularly with Akron Children’s Hospital specialists were finding it difficult to make regular travel arrangements to Akron.
So Aultman brought the specialists to them.
Late last year, pediatric pulmonologists and neurologists from Akron Children’s began meeting with patients on the Aultman campus. According to Tim Kilkenny, M.D., director of pediatrics at Aultman, developmental follow-up clinics for neonatal ICU patients are also being conducted.
The collaboration, Kilkenny said, has been a success in that it has encouraged many residents to take advantage of services that, otherwise, they would have done without.
“We are seeing that by making these services available it is actually increasing the number of referrals we are seeing (follow through),” Kilkenny said. “We are seeing some of those patients, who couldn’t manage to make it up there to Akron, being seen here in Stark County.”
Most of the families taking advantage of the Aultman-Akron Children’s partnership are doing so out of convenience – less time in the car, less money for gas. Others, though, simply had trouble securing the transportation and they were the people who ended up going without the care of Akron Children’s specialists.
“I would have patients tell me, ‘it’s great that you refer me to a specialist, but I can’t get up to Akron,’” Kilkenny said. “We feel very strongly that children’s health care is an important part of Aultman’s mission. Any time we can provide excellent health care to the community in the community that fits with our mission.”
Pediatric pulmonogists Starla Martinez, M.D., and Kimberly Spoonhower, M.D., see patients on the first and third Mondays of the month at Aultman. They offer general pulmonary services including pulmonary function tests, allergy skin tests and asthma education to offer support to children with conditions such as cystic fibrosis or apnea.
Pediatric neurologists Margaret McBride, M.D., and Abdalla Abdalla M.D., see patients on the fourth Tuesday of each month caring for children with headaches, epilepsy, seizure disorder, head injuries and neuromuscular disorders.
“We still have patients from (Stark County) that are that need to come up (to Akron),” Martinez said. “Sometimes we need our full compliment of staff and resources to serve our patients.”
For the specialists working with Stark County patients, it was a natural transition to begin offering their services through the Aultman campus. In the end, Martinez said, everybody won.
“There has always been a good relationships between the physicians. ... For us it was no big to work together like this,” Martinez said. “It can be challenging, but it’s a good experience to go to another hospital and to see the communities where our families live. They find it convenient and they like that we are able to provide for their needs right where they live.”
What matters most, Kilkenny said, is making the best health care as accessible as possible.
“The main thing, really, is our primary care pediatrics and family doctors are sending patients to see specialists at Akron Children’s as well as other places,” Kilkenny said. “We are just trying to provide a place for (patients) to see the specialists without the need for traveling to their hospital. ... A large community hospital like Aultman and a children’s hospital like Akron Children’s can provide a lot more benefits together.”
