The Children’s Hospital at TriStar Centennial is changing the future of pediatrics in Nashville. While the health system has provided pediatric services since 1985, TriStar recently rebranded and expanded peds care via the eight-floor specialty hospital on Murphy Road. According to hospital administrator Joann Ettien, the facility was the result of patient and staff demand.
Meeting a Need
“Expanding our children’s services is a natural extension for us,” Ettien said. “We’ve always treated children. In fact, TriStar Health saw over 60,000 children in our emergency rooms in 2013. We continue to hear from pediatricians, parents and even our own employees that there is an ongoing need and a desire to grow our children’s services.”
Through the Children’s Hospital, TriStar’s youngest patients from outlying communities can remain in the HCA system when illness strikes, allowing health records and x-rays to be viewed by pediatric specialists, hospitalists and even paramedics downtown. And through the genius of telemedicine, those specialists also act as a sounding board for patients and physicians at TriStar’s community hospitals, often saving patients and their families a commute into the city.
Healthcare for Kids
Colorful aquatic murals and kid-friendly artwork welcome families, who also appreciate child-approved menus, play areas, and a child life specialist trained in pediatric diversion techniques.
Ettien gives credit for much of the hospital’s design and growth to their parent advisory board and an active pediatrician counsel. “These voices are how we grow our program,” Ettien said. “Anything our pediatricians feel our children need we’ll usually be able to produce.”
Word of mouth also is instrumental, and it’s why every patient receives a call following discharge. Ettien said approximately 95 percent of patients give the hospital a near perfect mark.
Services at the 157-bed hospital include obstetrics and a Level III, 60-bed neonatal intensive care unit with 24/7 in-house neonatologists and neonatal nurse practitioners. Patients also have onsite access to an 80-bed med/surg unit, pediatric intensive care unit, and pediatric specialists in sleep medicine, neurology, urology, gastroenterology and endocrinology, including a comprehensive diabetes education and treatment program. Outpatient pediatric rehab provides physical, speech, and occupational therapies for children from birth to age 18.
The hospital also is home to Kids Express, which TriStar touts as “The region's only concierge service and outpatient center ... just for kids.” Staffed by specially trained pediatric nurses and therapists, Kids Express is positioned as a less expensive alternative to the emergency room with services including imaging, medical laboratory work, IV therapy and respiratory therapy. Located on the second floor of the Children’s Hospital with a designated entrance off Patterson Street, the clinic is open 8 a.m. – 10 p.m. Monday through Friday.
For more serious or after hours emergencies, TriStar steers patients toward TriStar Centennial Medical Center, where a pediatric and adult emergency room offers separate waiting and treatment areas for kids. Their dedicated pediatric ambulance transports patients within a 100-mile radius (including their 24/7 TriStar Spring Hill ER) and boasts telemedicine technology, allowing paramedics and families to talk to physicians before arriving at the hospital.
“Our focus is the child and the family, and physicians and families appreciate ease of access, our peds-friendly environment and direct admission capabilities,” said Ettien. “The TriStar system also is a big asset, as we all work together as a system to care for children.”
Playing Nicely TogetherIn a city where the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt has long been the only player in the peds hospital arena, does Nashville, with its municipal population of 634,464, warrant a second children’s hospital?
While the concept is new to Nashvillians, who undoubtedly had a “Did I read that right?” moment at first glimpse of TriStar’s colorful Children’s Hospital billboards, it’s not unprecedented. With a population just over 300,000, Lexington, Ky., boasts two children’s hospitals less than three miles apart. Tampa, Fla. (population 347,000) houses four children’s hospitals, while Orlando’s 250,000 residents have three inpatient options.TriStar’s addition doesn’t seem to be slowing progress at Vanderbilt, named among the nation’s ‘Best Children’s Hospitals’ for the eighth consecutive year in U.S. News & World Report’s this June. And in December, the hospital announced plans for a 40,000 square foot expansion. In Franklin, construction is underway on the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Williamson Medical Center, a four-story pediatric tower to include a pediatric emergency department, a 12-bed pediatric inpatient unit and pediatric observation beds.
Is it possible for all pediatric players to not merely co-exist, but to thrive? If the city’s recent growth is any indicator, then yes. The latest Census data puts the metro area at 1.75 million residents at the end of 2013. According to the Nashville Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, the 10-county MSA is expected to attract another million people by the year 2035. Forbes recently ranked Nashville No. 5 for “Best Places for Business and Careers,” and the city receives continual nods for its affordability, strong economy and access to healthcare.
As for TriStar, Ettien credits the hospital’s success and strong patient volume to a relentless commitment to the children of Middle Tennessee. “If you keep your focus on children, all the right things will happen … and they all have happened,” she said. “We strive to think outside box - how can we make access easier? Everything’s here for a child.”
