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Hospitalists

Valley Children’s hospitalists are board certified pediatricians serving as the always-on-duty doctors in the inpatient environment. Hospitalists at Valley Children’s train together and work together to maintain consistently high standards of care throughout all inpatient units. Our hospitalists also serve as an important bridge between inpatient and primary care, communicating with referring physicians about their patient’s status while they are hospitalized. Hospitalists are onsite at all times, day or night. They streamline the admission and discharge process, a service that improves safety and timeliness of care for the patient and family. In addition, this minimizes hospital costs, as our hospitalists make sure that patients who are ready to go home get checked out and on their way as soon as possible.

Hospitalists also provide on-site pediatric care at Emanuel Medical Center in Turlock and at Bakersfield Memorial in Bakersfield, providing 24-hour inpatient physician coverage for pediatric patients.  

Hospitalist Program Ensures Continuity of Care

  • 24/7 coverage on Acute Care units by pediatric hospitalists.
  • Hospitalists are the “pediatrician of record” during a patient’s stay. They coordinate with the primary care physician and all subspecialists that need to see the individual patient.
  • Provide rapid assessment to any child who takes a turn for the worse. When necessary, the hospitalist supervises and coordinates the child’s transfer to the pediatric intensive care unit and assumes care for children who are ready to transfer to the acute care floor from the pediatric intensive care unit. 
  • Teaches the next generation of pediatric physicians by supervising Residents on Patient Centered Rounds.
  • Actively participates in medical staff committees to continually review medical care and promote patient safety.
  • Follows national guidelines and evidence based medicine practices to provide the most up-to-date care.

Hospitalists Enhance Quality

They develop and monitor many clinical pathways, including but not limited to: 

  • Asthma
  • Bronchiolitis
  • Diabetic ketoacidosis
  • Pneumonia
  • Sepsis

Multidisciplinary Services

  • Emergency Department:
  • Hospitalists make sure children are admitted rapidly, moving patients from the ED to an inpatient unit as soon as possible, clearing a room in the ED for the next emergency patient.
  • Inpatient Acute Care Units:
  • Hospitalists provide 24/7 coverage on Acute Care units.
  • Hospitalists are readily available to any nurse and case manager to optimize patient care.
  • Nursing staff:
  • Nurses communicate multiple times a day with hospitalists when they have a question or concern about a patient resulting in optimal patient care. 
  • Community pediatricians/primary care providers:
  • Our hospitalists communicate with a child’s pediatrician or primary care physician so they know what is happening with their patients and to provide a seamless transition between the child’s hospital stay and discharge home.
  • Weekly updates are sent on patients that have prolonged hospitalizations.
  • Discharge summaries are sent so the primary care physician knows the details of the hospitalization at the time of follow up.