If your child is sick or hurt, you want the best care possible and you don’t want to travel far to receive it. Until recently, children in the Pottstown area had to leave the community in order to obtain inpatient hospital care. Fortunately, that’s no longer true.
Pottstown Memorial Medical Center (PMMC) now offers inpatient pediatric care for a wide variety of illnesses, injuries and conditions requiring surgery.
With the addition of PMMC’s pediatric program, spearheaded by Cynthia Harris, RN-BC, MBA, Certified Pediatric Nurse, and an expert team of primary care pediatricians, medical specialists and specially trained nurses, more than 150 local pediatric patients received inpatient care in the last year.
Hospital CEO Steve MacLauchlan attests to this much-needed addition to PMMC. He says he has been inundated with requests from parents requesting locally available pediatric services.
“The lack of pediatric services was taking a toll on local families,” Mr. MacLauchlan explains. “We made it a priority to offer pediatric inpatient services so families would not have the additional burden of traveling to distant healthcare facilities.”
The addition of highly trained orthopedic surgeons enables PMMC to offer advanced procedures including scoliosis surgery. Pediatric surgical patients have access to state-of-the-art technology combined with the clinical talent of specially trained staff. All nurses are Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) certified.
Kim Jack, RN, MSN, Chief Nursing Officer, says, “We understand how important it is to have a hospital close by that can provide the medical care your child needs.”
PMMC’s pediatric unit treats a variety of conditions including: fractures, pneumonia, croup and respiratory conditions, appendicitis, jaundice, asthma exacerbation, and dehydration.
Later this year the hospital will begin construction on a children’s unit, to accommodate more pediatric admissions. The new child-friendly unit will be equipped with rooms that can accommodate beds and cribs; video cameras; wall-mounted monitors to check vital signs; accommodations for parents; a conference room; and separate exam rooms.
“A lot of families in the community think they have to go into the city, but they can get quality care right in their neighborhood,” reiterates Ms. Harris.
“Our nurses are not only trained to care for the pediatric population, they have the compassion and understanding to make the patients feel comfortable during their stay with us.”
