Hospital may add pediatric specialist

Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian medical staff and administration have been discussing the future of the hospital’s pediatric inpatient services, with the possibility of bringing a specialist from the Children’s Hospital of Orange County, enhancing the relationship the two hospitals have had for years, President Dr. Richard Afable said.

Some local pediatricians are afraid the hospital’s emergence as an advanced specialty center will further diminish the use of the hospital’s eight-bed pediatric unit for inpatient services, which is only used 50% of the time, Afable said.

But no decision has been made nor has the hospital’s board of directors been included on any discussions regarding the unit’s future. The board would have final say, Afable said.

Pediatric unit chairman Dr. Andrew Blumberg said the possibility of bringing in specialists from the Children’s Hospital is a “win-win” for the hospitals, children and the community. He’d like to see the addition of a 24-hour shift for doctors who would serve as bridges between patient, pediatrician, other specialists and the child’s family.

The expansion of the outpatient services seems positive to Afable and Blumberg, but the possibility of the eight beds no longer being designated for inpatient services concerns Blumberg and other doctors who don’t want Hoag to lose its community hospital atmosphere.