Page 7 - Christiana Care Focus October 2018

She is leading the sickle cell team, which sees patients on the first and third Fridays of each month. She’s upbeat but also pragmatic about the future of care for adults with sickle cell disease in Delaware. The disease is marked by frequent crises of pain that often lead to emergency department visits, especially when office visits are not an option, she said. She sees a growing need for more physicians to care for the hundreds of sickle cell patients living in Delaware and surrounding areas, not only for treating the chronic disease, but also to help these patients get primary care.
‘Word is getting out’ about cerebral palsy clinic
Access to special needs care for adult patients with cerebral palsy in Delaware was a bleak picture, according to Margaret (Peggy) Guest-Deshan, M.D.
The physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist now leading the CP program at the Center for Special Health Care Needs said that, where there used to be a void in the community, now patients and families have access to neuromuscular care at their own clinic.
“Statewide, there was virtually no access to care after Nemours,” said Dr. Guest-Deshan. “There were day programs for CP patients but really not a designated physician to treat neuromuscular/rehab needs.
“It’s really fortunate to have
Dr. Freeman Miller, the pediatric orthopaedic surgeon from Nemours who specializes in orthopaedic care,
Margaret Guest-Deshan, M.D.
Justin Eldridge, M.D.’s dual certification in medicine and pediatrics helps him straddle the bar between pediatric and adult health care for patients in transition. Kim Prinski, LCSW, works closely with the entire team at the Center for Special Health Care Needs
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to partner with in transitioning these patients to our special CP program,” she said. “He is a renowned orthopaedic physician with great expertise in transitioning CP patients to adult care. This transition has been a long-lasting dream for Dr. Miller. We are getting more and more phone calls now as Nemours partners with us to help notify families. Word is getting out.”
Complex urology program
fills a long-existing transitional care need
The complex urology program is yet another program recently launched at the Center for Special Health Care Needs. It brings together pediatric and adult specialists who care for those adults who have had multiple urologic surgeries or conditions as children.
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FOCUS •OCTOBER 2018 5