News:


Referral News: Pediatric General Surgery Contracted with Wellcare & Prestige
Drs. Paul D. Danielson, Richard Harmel and Nicole Chandler of the Pediatric General Surgery program at All Children's are contracted with Wellcare and now accept: Healthease, Healthease Healthy Kids, Staywell and Staywell Healthy Kids. The surgeons also are contracted with Prestige.

Please call the main office at 727-767-4170 if you have any questions. Patients are seen at All Children's Specialty Care of Brandon, All Children's Specialty Care of Sarasota and All Children's Specialty Care of Manatee at Lakewood Ranch in addition to St. Petersburg.


Moving Day: December 12
The new All Children’s Hospital will open (and the current hospital will close) on December 12.

The Emergency Center in the new facility will open at 5 a.m., and inpatient units will begin their move at approximately 6 a.m. When the new Emergency Center opens we will also begin staffing the new PICU in order to support the new EC. We anticipate the move will be complete by late afternoon or early evening.

The new hospital is located at 501 Sixth Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701. All phone numbers remain the same.


Pediatric Grand Rounds
Pediatric Grand Rounds are held Fridays from 12:30 to 1:30 pm in the Education & Conference Center at All Children’s Hospital and are webcast live www.allkids.org/cme.

Friday, November 6
2 Hour Program

Prevention of Medical Errors — MEETS CME Requirement

Speaker: Joseph F. Putz, LHRM

Friday, November 13

Journal Quest V: An Interactive Review of Recent Pediatric Medical News

Joseph Scarano, MD

Physicians can earn CME credit by viewing archived webcasts at www.allkids.org/cme. The November 6 Prevention of Medical Errors presentation is already online for viewing. In general, Grand Rounds presentations are available for online viewing within one week of the live presentation.




Saturday, November 14
11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Please join us to celebrate our progress. You and your family are invited to join with All Children’s physicians, employees and volunteers for a special sneak peek at our new Hospital. The day will feature tours, refreshments, music and family fun.

Plus, stop by the Physician Lounge on the first floor of the new Hospital for refreshments, a commemorative and a guided tour.

RSVP to www.allkids.org/sneakpeek or 727-767-2308
by November 12.

The new Hospital is located at 501 6th Avenue South. Follow directional signs for parking.



Due to the prevalence of H1N1 flu virus in the community, the All Children’s Emergency Center is seeing record numbers of patients. Apart from our efforts to cope with the surge of EC patients, our greatest resource for managing most of the patients with flu-like symptoms is the primary care physician. Appropriate phone triage and keeping patients at home go a long way in preventing both unnecessary EC visits and transmission of the virus. Most of the patients presenting to the EC with flu-like symptoms do not require testing or treatment. Please avoid sending patients for “testing only” as the patients have to be checked in to the EC for evaluation by an EC physician. Children who are at low risk for complications due to H1N1 usually have a mild illness in which neither testing nor a prescription for antiviral medication is needed. The EC physician will make a decision about antiviral treatment based on clinical judgment and CDC guidelines. Click the following links to view these algorithms: We have noted a shortage of the TamifluŽ suspension. Many pharmacies will compound the suspension for the patient. It helps to write on your prescription: “OK to compound” as this will avoid a phone call from the pharmacies to authorize it. The Pinellas County Health Department is distributing antiviral medications for free. The All Children’s Hospital Outpatient Pharmacy will compound TamifluŽ and other medications during its weekday hours from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (phone 727-767-8933).

We are urging families to contact their primary care physicians and stay at home to prevent further spread of the virus. Families can go to www.allkids.org/H1N1 to find a Flu Assessment Questionnaire for Parents that will help them evaluate whether a child needs to be seen by their doctor or a nearby emergency room, along with recommendations for how to provide comfort care at home.

Please feel free to contact Dr. Wassam Rahman, Medical Director of the Emergency Center or our Infectious Disease specialists for any questions you may have.
Monthly Outreach Grand Rounds in Sarasota

Outreach Grand Rounds are held monthly at Sarasota Memorial Hospital. The schedule for the remainder of 2009 is as follows:

Date Speaker Topic Room
19-Nov Danielle Sutton, PhD AAP Guidelines for Autism Identification, Evaluation, and Management Waldemere Medical Plaza-Magnolia Room
15-Dec David Cimino, MD, FAAP, FSAM Hormonal Contraceptives: Contraceptive and Other Uses SMH - Room 4AB