Hospitalist Division
Lora Bergert, MD

The pediatric hospitalist division at Kapi’olani Medical Center for Women and Children was created during the 2002-2003 academic year. As the complexity of medical practice is increasing, numerous institutions around the nation have begun to develop specialists in this area of hospital-based medicine.

Mission Statement:

The Pediatric Hospitalist division is committed to excellence in inpatient pediatric patient care and medical education. We aim to provide a cornerstone for the hospital in inpatient pediatrics and will be advocates for improving patient care and integration with ancillary staff. We strive to raise the standard of patient care through medical education of residents and medical students and through research, including quality improvement.

Division members care for children admitted to the general pediatric wards of the Kapi’olani Medical Center for Women and Children. A variety of children are cared for on the hospitalist service. Some are otherwise healthy children admitted with acute illness for a brief period of time; many are children with complex chronic medical problems, requiring long-term support. Some live on Oahu, but many arrive from neighbor islands, the outer islands of the Pacific Basin, or as tourists from the US mainland, Japan, or Europe. All are provided with state-of-the-art medical care, in a child-friendly environment.

Teaching

The pediatric hospitalist division was created within a teaching hospital, and has continued to prioritize the teaching of residents and medical students. Division members hold University of Hawaii faculty appointments. They serve as a dedicated teaching group, for all University of Hawaii and visiting medical students during their inpatient pediatric rotations. Division members also provide structured education and clinical supervision for pediatrics, pediatrics / psychiatry / child psychiatry, family practice, and transitional residents on their pediatric inpatient rotations. This academic year the division transitioned to Family Centered Rounds as recommended by the AAP and the Institute of Medicine.

In addition to teaching residents and medical students, division members serve as resources for private physicians and pediatric subspecialists seeking peer consultation and advice. They bring their expertise to community service and continuing medical education activities. Members of the division sit on hospital committees, working to improve the efficiency of care and maintain the high quality of care within the hospital system.

Research

The pediatric hospitalist division is uniquely situated, to conduct outcomes research in the pediatric inpatient realm. Ongoing projects include: work with PRIS (Pediatric Research in Inpatient Settings) network, a study examining efficacy of family-centered rounds, a smoking cessation project and looking at the numerous Staphylococcal infections. Members of the division presented 3 different posters at national meetings this past year.

The division has also been active in Quality Improvement projects and research instituting nine new order sets and protocols.