Marin General Hospital Emergency Department Approved for Pediatrics Designation
GREENBRAE, CA — Marin General Hospital has earned the esteemed designation of an Emergency Department Approved for Pediatrics (EDAP) from Marin County Emergency Medical Services Agency. This designation is the result of a two-year effort to optimize emergency care to better meet the needs of children and their families in the Marin community. Innovative changes in protocols at Marin General Hospital’s Emergency Department serve to calm and improve outcomes for children, adolescents and their families.
“When we heard suggestions from a Marin mother about how the emergency room experience could - and should - be made less stressful for children, we not only listened but we incorporated her ideas and expanded how we delivered care to improve outcomes for our youngest patients and their families. Now, as the area’s only “Ouchless ED” we have a dedicated pediatric area in the waiting room, games, books, and iPads that can refocus the attention of a fearful child, new ways to give medications, and most importantly special training for the care team to make Marin General Hospital’s emergency room experience less traumatic for children,” said Lee Domanico, Chief Executive Officer at Marin General Hospital.
Innovative techniques and a highly-trained care team at Marin General Hospital are dedicated to making sure that a visit to the ER is pleasant for kids of all ages. Emergency staff and physicians have been trained extensively in distraction and sensitivity techniques for use with their pediatric patients. Some injections are needle-free and numbing creams or shot blockers reduce the pain of injections. Staff also use apps and interactive toys to demonstrate procedures as well as add playfulness to a child’s experience.
Essential child-friendly features include three ED treatment rooms that have been redesigned with the pediatric patient in mind and a 5 bed inpatient pediatric unit. Plus, a full-time Child Life Specialist and Pediatric Hospitalist work closely with children and their families during their visit. To ensure service quality, Marin General Hospital will conduct an annual pediatric readiness review, provide recurring pediatric training for all emergency department staff, and coordinate a public messaging strategy to relate EDAP services to its patients.
“We commend the team at Marin General Hospital for taking the initiative to make this enhanced level of pediatric care available to the residents of Marin,” said Dustin Ballard, MD, Medical Director of the Marin Emergency Medical Services Agency.
UCSF Joins Marin General Hospital to Expand Pediatric Services
As part of our expanded pediatric services, we have teamed up with UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital to provide extended services and expertise for our neonatal and pediatric patients. UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital at Marin General Hospital is a powerful collaboration that includes UCSF neonatologists onsite at Marin General Hospital, a prenatal diagnostic center staffed with specialists in high-risk obstetrics and access to all the resources of a top-ranked children's hospital. In addition, it includes a specialty clinic nearby with experts in pediatric cardiology, gastroenterology, neurology, pulmonology, orthopedics and eating disorders.
For our patients born with Type 1 Diabetes, we are excited to collaborate with the Madison Clinic at UCSF Medical Center to expand our diabetes support and medical services. This collaboration allows us to partner with one of the nation’s preeminent pediatric programs. Under the leadership of Saleh Adi, MD, a renowned pediatric endocrinologist and diabetes specialist, Marin General Hospital now offers the only American Diabetes Association recognized pediatric diabetes clinic in Marin County.
About Marin County EMS
A branch of Marin County Department of Health and Human Services, the EMS Agency is responsible for planning, implementing and evaluating Marin’s Emergency Medical Services System. In collaboration with local hospitals, fire departments, and private ambulance companies, the EMS Agency ensures delivery of high quality and timely response for all patients who access the 911 system. The Agency is also responsible for verifying achievement and offering special designation to hospitals providing enhanced services for trauma, stroke, heart attack and pediatrics.
