Strengths
The Division of General and Community Pediatrics at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center has an active clinical section that provides pediatric primary care to a large population of children in the Cincinnati metropolitan and Tri-State region. The mission of the Clinical Section is to be a leader in caring for children in need. Stephen Muething, MD, Assistant Professor, is the Director of the Clinical Section, which consists of an in-patient hospitalist service, out-patient primary care, a lead clinic, a diagnostic clinic for second opinions and school-based healthcare.
Generalist Inpatient Service (GIS)
Generalist Inpatient Service (GIS) provides coverage for pediatric patients referred for general inpatient care by community physicians not admitting their own patients as well as the Division's primary care patients. There are over 3,000 admissions to GIS annually. Communication and follow-up with the referring physician are hallmarks of the GIS.
The GIS is active in the Pursuing Perfection initiative at Cincinnati Children's and is working with inpatient units to reduce admission and discharge times in addition to creating an environment where children and families are full participants in their care. The GIS Director is Michael T. Vossmeyer, MD, and has a dedicated core team of hospitalists who work and teach on the service.
Diagnostic Clinic (for Second Opinions)
The Diagnostic Clinic, directed by Stephen Muething, MD, assists community Physicians who wish to refer infants, children and teens for second opinions or consultations. We help community physicians in managing complex problems or difficult to diagnose illnesses. For children with mental health or learning problems, referral to either to the Division of Psychiatry or the Division of Developmental Disorders is recommended.
Outpatient Primary Care
The Division provides physician services to outpatient centers. Two of these centers are directly within the Division: Pediatric Primary Care Center and Hopple Street Neighborhood Health Center. The Pediatric Primary Care Center (PPC) is the second largest Resident continuity training site in the country with over 50 Residents and 34,000 patient encounters per year. The PPC is staffed by a core group of five Board Certified Staff Physicians in addition to a large compliment of faculty and community preceptors. The PPC is in Location A.1 on the Cincinnati Children's main campus.
Hopple Street Neighborhood Health Center is on Beekman Street in North Fairmount. Hopple Street has two dedicated, Board Certified staff physicians and with 8 Residents and over 7,000 patient encounters, it continues to grow and provide quality training and patient care in an underserved community setting. Both the PPC and Hopple Street have Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSA) designations and are Resident training sites.
The PPC and Hopple Street are also part of the Reach Out and Read Program, which strives to make literacy a standard part of pediatric practice.
The Division also has six Staff Physicians at Children's Health Care, which is a large primary care practice with two locations in Batesville and Greensburg, Indiana. Combined, these practices have over 21,000 patient encounters in a rural setting.
Babies Milk Fund
Cincinnati Children's has almost a 100 year history and relationship with Babies Milk Fund (BMF), which is a network of primary care pediatric practices located across Cincinnati at Findlay Street, Martin Luther King, Norwood and Harrison. The Division has a close working relationship with these practices, which includes the provision of six Staff Physicians. BMF is also a Resident continuity training site for Cincinnati Children's.
School Based Health
The Division has a collaborative relationship with Neighborhood Health Care (NHC) a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), with three school based health centers (SBHC) in the Avondale community: Rockdale, Burton and South Avondale Elementary schools. The school based health centers provide health and social services to grades K-8. Overseeing the school based health program is Mona Mansour, MD.
Entering its fourth year of school based health, the Division provides medical oversight and leadership to the three school health centers. In addition to the collaboration with NHC, this initiative also involves partnerships with the Cincinnati Public Schools and the Cincinnati Health Department. With funding from the Greater Cincinnati Health Foundation and a federal Healthy Schools / Healthy Communities grant, the Division is working with NHC and its funding partners to secure long-term funding for all three schools.
