OHSU partnership opens doors to specialty pediatric care in Salem
Nov 29, 2016
A team of representatives from Salem Health, Salem-area physicians’ offices and OHSU has been meeting regularly over the past couple years to come up with solutions for gaps in health care in the mid-Willamette Valley.
One of those solutions is a new pediatric care clinic offering expanded specialty care for kids.
The OHSU Doernbecher Pediatric Specialty Clinics – Salem opened on Sept. 21 and has already seen more than 140 patients. OHSU Doernbecher physicians run and staff the clinic, but it is housed in Building C on the Salem Health main campus.
What does the new clinic offer?
The new pediatrics specialty clinic offers many of the same technical capabilities available at OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland, including:
- Cardiology
- Developmental pediatrics
- Endocrinology
- Gastroenterology
- General surgery
- Pulmonology
- Spine
- Urology
To help extend the reach of Portland’s pediatric specialists to the Salem community, the clinic also has a telemedicine cart — a video system where patients can communicate with doctors outside the hospital.
Who is the specialty clinic for?
Having a seriously ill child is frightening and stressful enough on its own. About 5,500 Marion and Polk county families had been living with the added expense and inconvenience of regularly traveling to downtown Portland for services their kids couldn’t get anywhere else.
If yours is one of those families, your child’s health care provider may refer you to the new clinic.
Where do we go for general pediatric needs?
The pediatric unit at Salem Health’s main campus, Building D, will continue to serve children who have general health conditions, need certain kinds of surgery or require rehabilitation.
Salem Health’s affiliation with OHSU and OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital helps provide access to the most advanced technology and expertise. As the partnership continues to grow, Salem Health and OHSU hope to provide greater convenience and continued exceptional care to you and your family.