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Show - - in vv J j l. i yvTl I. .... I f" : Is '" Jj pil ' i $ mm: ji.io.-.-.vjai(Wfff.-.- Nighttime Pediatrics now serving Bountiful By CHERIE HUBER ' One of the basic principles of business success is simply finding a need and then filling it. That is part of the success story of Nighttime Pediatrics which opened in October, Octo-ber, 1987 in Bountiful. Nighttime Pediatrics serves not only the families fami-lies of Davis County but also the pediatricians by providing after-hours after-hours pediatric care. Nighttime Pediatrics is the creation crea-tion of Dr. Rodney A. Pollary of Salt Lake. His first Nighttime Pediatrics, the first after-hours clinic cli-nic for pediatric patients has been operating in Salt Lake City for five years. ' Dr. Pollary says he was bothered by the fact that being a pediatrician meant he often had to make choices between his family and his patients. He felt he would like a system where he could concentrate on his patients when he was working work-ing and be totally available to his family when he was ai home with no beeper or phone calls to continually con-tinually call him back to work. Usually pediatricians in an area work on a rotating system where each one is on call for one night. when an emergency comes up tne doctor often ends up being up all night and then going to his regular practice in the mornings. That makes it difficult for the doctor and having a different doctor on call each night makes it confusing for the patients. Sometimes a doctor can handle a problem over the phone after hours but if not the child often ends up at the Emergency Room. In a survey Dr. Pollary found that about 90,000 children a year are seen in the emergency room. That means that almost a third of the children in the Salt Lake Valley are seen in an ER each year. The ER was becoming the after-hours health care center. However, while emergency rooms are set up to deal with accidents, acci-dents, heart attacks and other trauma, they are not always the best place for a sick child. More often than not the child has an ear j ache.asorethroatorflu-likesymp- toms. Also, emergency room visits are expensive, ranging about $100 a visit. Even with insurance, parents pa-rents usually pay about $25. A second choice for parents is to take a day off work and schedule a trip to the doctor. Not only is a day at work lost but the parent may be postponing taking a sick child in for the care that may be crucial. Dr. Pollary points out that almost half of the mothers in the Salt Lake Valley work. Usually there are three special times when working mothers would like to be able lo take a child to the doctor. The first time is when she picks the child up from the day care center and she is told that the child is not feeling well. But by 5, the pediatrician's pediatri-cian's office is closed. Then at 9 p m. when she is bathing and putting put-ting the child to bed and realizes thai there is a temperature, a rash, or i sore throat, a mother would again like to consult a doctor. The third time is usually before about 11p.m. when children awake crying from ear aches and other problems. Calls to Nighttime Pediatrics seem to follow this pattern pat-tern with a rush of calls between 5 and 6 p.m. then another flurry of calls around 9 and then again starting start-ing at 10 p.m. Nighttime Pediatrics opens at 5 p.m. and is open until 11 p.m. ; The clinic handles minor emergencies and illnesses including includ-ing lab work. The clinic does not do well-child checkups and the patient is referred to the regular pediatri-ician pediatri-ician for follow-up treatments. A I copy of the visit record goes to ' each patient's pediatrician the next morning. The staff at the clinic is also happy to answer questions oyer the phone to help parents decide de-cide if the child needs to be seen by a doctor. At the same time, children chil-dren with serious injuries or those who need to be hospitalized for treatment are referred on to the hospital. In Bountiful, Nighttime Pediatrics Pediat-rics is located in Dr. Bruce Jorgen-son's Jorgen-son's office at 575 E. Medical Drive. Dr. Pollary says that Drs. Randy Reese, Douglas Nielsen, David Scott, Douglas Coombs, Lawrence Lawr-ence Gibb, Craig Black and Bruce Jorgenson, who are the pediatricians pediatri-cians in the Bountiful area, have all been very supportive of Nighttime Pediatrics. Dr. Barbara Porter is one of the newest doctors at Nighttime Pediatrics. She trained at the University Uni-versity of Utah Medical Center and worked with the public health department de-partment in Salt Lake and the B YU Student Health Department. Dr. Porter started at Nighttime Pediatrics Pediat-rics in January. Right now about 90 percent of the cases they see at Nighttime Pediatrics are flu related or ear infections. in-fections. There is also a lot of strep and problems with vomiting and diarrhea. di-arrhea. This is a seasonal business as far as injuries and disease Dr. Pollary says. The doctors at the clinic have to be prepared with the skills to deal with illnesses and injuries and knowledge to decide if the child should go to the hospital instead. The basic cost of a visit to Nighttime Night-time Pediatrics is $40 with a $10 discount for payment at the time of the visit. Nighttime Pediatrics has also joined all the major insurance programs. The basic co-pay fee for each visit is $10. Nighttime Pediatrics is open from 5-11 p.m. on week nights and from noon-11 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. A doctor is at the clinic cli-nic at all times during those hours. Parents can call their own pediatrician pediatri-cian and their calls will be forwarded. for-warded. They can call directly to Nighttime Pediatrics at 295-6655 or they can just come by if necessary. |