Coffee Regional Medical Center partners with Kids Alliance for Better Care enhancing pediatric care
DOUGLAS, Ga. – Coffee Regional Medical Center is now a participant of the Kids Alliance for Better Care, furthering their commitment to enhancing pediatric care.
With the medical center now a part of the Kids ABC, families in Coffee County can trust that their children have access to high-quality pediatric care close to home.
“The Kids ABC program is actually a partnership between Mercer University School of Medicine and the Georgia Rural Health Innovation Center and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. With an endowed fund to really help enhance pediatric health care across rural Georgia,” said Chris Scoggins, Projects Director, Ga. Rural Health Innovation Center.
“We are celebrating our participation in Kids ABC, which is the brainchild, if you will, of Jean Sumner, the dean of the Medical School at Mercer. Jean founded the Center for Rural Health Innovation and then partnered with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta to help hospitals like Coffee Regional Medical Centers serve their pediatric populations,” said Vicki Lewis, President & CEO, Coffee Regional Medical Center.
Providing specialized pediatric care has long been a significant challenge for rural communities in Georgia.
“It’s particularly challenging in a rural setting to provide pediatric care and make sure that we have all of the equipment and training and education for our staff that are needed for pediatric care,” said Lewis.
But, Coffee Regional Medical Center, in partnership with the Georgia Rural Health Innovation Center and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, is taking a major step forward.
Chris Scoggins, Projects Director for the Georgia Rural Health Innovation Center, explains the unique challenges rural hospitals face providing pediatric care and how this collaboration is making a difference.
“So, half of rural counties in the state of Georgia don’t have a single pediatrician. Many of our small emergency rooms and hospitals across rural Georgia don’t see a lot of kids. So, you can imagine it’s kind of hard to keep skills current and really be at the top of your game if you’re not doing it all the time. A hospital that’s in Atlanta might have the ability to see multiple acute children in a very short period of time, whereas it’s a little fewer and further between rural communities. And, this program is really designed to help maximize those skills, make sure that the kind of care and quality of care that’s going on in rural communities is the very, very best that can be,” said Chris Scoggins, Projects Director, Georgia Rural Health Innovation Center.
The focus now shifts to building on this foundation. Leaders are excited to see where this program can take rural pediatric care in the future.
“The reason that we’re so happy is we know this is the beginning of a journey that will continually improve pediatric care in Coffee county, Georgia,” said Lewis.
“We are so excited to see Coffee Regional Medical Center hit this milestone. Coffee Regional has been a wonderful partner, is really community minded and here to serve the community and we’re so excited that they’ve made these incredible investments in pediatric care to take care of the kids right here at home,” said Scoggins.
De’Andra Jacobs reporting.
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