Riley preps for launch of Fort Wayne pediatric clinic
By Chelsea Boulrisse | KPC Media - The Star
The Riley Children’s Health pediatric clinic is set to open its doors in Fort Wayne on Jan. 22 and start serving the health care needs of kids in northern Indiana.
The goal for setting up a clinic in Fort Wayne was to essentially “centralize” the treatments their patients were receiving from Riley making it convenient for the families of kids who travel Riley on a regular basis. This will allow them to continue their treatments and recovery plans without traveling for hours and in an environment more familiar than the busy setting of the Indianapolis hospital.
In addition, according to statements made by public relations consultant Jeff Swiatek on behalf of IU Health, Riley and further IU Health clinics expected to come into the Fort Wayne area hope to address different issues brought to their attention, namely infant and maternity care.
“Indiana’s relatively high infant mortality rate is a special concern of healthcare providers and others in Indiana,” Swiatek said. “The Riley Children’s Health outpatient specialty care clinic … and the primary care office opening in the spring will give IU Health more resources to help mothers and their babies in the Fort Wayne community.”
This new facility, located on East Cook Road in Fort Wayne, will offer many of the services found at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, in a place closer to home for its northern Indiana patients. An announcement from Riley states that the clinic will gradually bring services into the new 12-room clinic starting with pediatric urology and cardiology before expanding into additional services including rheumatology and gastroenterology.
Some doctors from Riley’s Indianapolis hospital are used to commuting up to Fort Wayne for appointments at Lutheran Hospital and Fort Wayne Pediatrics, per statements made by Riley. The only new aspect for these traveling doctors is that they will have a place of their own to hold their appointments. Although surgeries and inpatient procedures will still take place at Riley Hospital in Indianapolis, the Fort Wayne location will be used for follow-up visits.
“As someone who has developed roots in the Fort Wayne community over the years, I am thrilled to tell my patients and families that Riley Children’s Health is making an even greater commitment to their health and well-being,” Dr. Mark Cain, a Riley pediatric urologist, said in an announcement from Riley.
Currently, the new Fort Wayne clinic will be staffed by doctors from different specialties on a rotating schedule, most of whom are expected to be commuting from Indianapolis. Swiatek stated that he did not know if IU Health would hire doctors that would be stationed solely at the Fort Wayne facility.
