Author: Anderson Hills Pediatrics

We are all supposed to stay home, avoid encounters outside of our households, yet children still become ill. It may be coronavirus or one of the many other viruses or bacterial diseases that children routinely get. Children’s urgent care centers like the one in our Anderson neighborhood have closed and others require appointments.

The physicians and staff at Anderson Hills Pediatrics are available 24/7/365. We have always been and always will be available to you all hours of the day and night, on weekends and all holidays. This is part of our mission to provide comprehensive care.

Our official office hours are M-F 8-6 and Saturdays 8-12. That is when our phones are staffed. However, we are often seeing ill children at other times, but limited staff does not allow us to take live phone calls. We have patient appointments later in the evening, on Saturday afternoons, and we always have a physician seeing patients on Sunday mornings.

So if your child is ill, please talk to one of our nurses during regular scheduled office hours if possible. However, we understand that children get sick, symptoms evolve any time day or night. So please call us first before bringing your child to an urgent care center or emergency department. We don’t want our patients to have unnecessary exposures. Currently, we have all of our patients that present to the office check-in from their cars; thus, we have no surprise exposures in the waiting room.

Should your child become ill on the weekend, please try to call us before noon on Saturdays. On Sundays please try to call us between 8:30 and 10:30. We do leave the office earlier on those days.

SO PLEASE CALL US ANYTIME 24/7/365. Even if we have left the office, we can guide you how to take care of your child’s illness at home until he can be seen in the office or determine if she needs to be seen more urgently.

IT IS OUR PLEASURE AND PRIVILEGE TO SERVE YOU AND YOUR FAMILY DURING THIS CRISIS AND IN THE FUTURE. 

Petra Hackenberg-Bauer, MD

COVID-19 is a new strain of Coronavirus, which is a family of common viruses that tend to cause cold symptoms in people. This one is unique in that it is more contagious and causes more severe illness, including more deaths, than the typical Coronavirus. Luckily, children generally have milder symptoms than adults. It spreads from person-to-person from respiratory droplets that are produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes. These droplets can be breathed in and can linger on surfaces they land on, so washing your hands often (particularly before eating or touching your face!) and disinfecting commonly touched surfaces regularly is important. Washing with soap and water for 20 seconds or using hand sanitize that contains at least 60% alcohol and rubbing until dry are effective ways to protect yourself. You can disinfect surfaces at home with EPA-registered household disinfectants or diluted bleach solution (5 tablespoons bleach per gallon of water).

Social distancing is CRUCIAL to limit the spread of this virus.  That means staying at least 6 feet apart from others and avoiding unnecessary travel and errands to limit your risk of exposure. Teenagers, that means you too!  Take this seriously. People can be contagious even before they start showing symptoms, so that’s why it’s still not OK to get together with a group of you healthy friends. Take advantage of the great technology like Face Time, Marco Polo, Zoom, Google Hangout instead to still “get together” with friends. 

If you do develop symptoms of fever, cough, shortness of breath, or sore throat we are here to help! Call our office anytime to arrange an office-based, curbside, or telemedicine appointment to assess the best next step. 

Leah M. Welty, MD

Anderson Hills Pediatrics

Dear Patients and Family Members,
 
Our Anderson Hills Pediatrics team has made it a top priority to ensure we provide safe and convenient care to your family during the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
Here are our latest updates:

· We now offer telemedicine visits. This will allow our providers to care for your child from the comfort of your home.

· Curbside appointments are now available as an alternative to a visit inside of our office. These visits, designed to keep your family in the vehicle are useful for ill care and testing.

· The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends seeing children for check-up appointments even  during the COVID-19 Pandemic. This is especially important for children that require immunizations so that we do not see a secondary outbreak of other illnesses.

· We continue to schedule well visits in the mornings and sick visits in the afternoon at our offices.

· We ask that all patients check in for their in-office or curbside appointments from the comfort of their vehicle by calling our front desk team upon arrival to the parking lot (513-232-8100 ext 7). 

· Be assured that we follow proper procedures to disinfect our office between patient visits and routinely throughout the day.   

· Visits for preventative and ill care to your pediatrician are permitted during the “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order. 

· For all visits to our offices, please limit the visitors to one healthy adult. 

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the health of your child or scheduling a visit, please give us a call.  You may also schedule routine and telemedicine appointments online by clicking HERE .

 
It is our pleasure to provide care in the safest way possible to your child and family. 
 
Sincerely, 
Your Anderson Hills Pediatrics Team

Resource Links for your Family:

https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/chest-lungs/Pages/2019-Novel-Coronavirus.aspx

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prepare/children.html

To our patients and families, 

We continue to actively monitor the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure we are providing you with the best patient care & communication updates.

As a practice, we have been preparing for COVID-19 for the past several weeks in conjunction with local hospitals and health departments. In doing so, we have prepared our staff and have arranged schedules to separate check-ups and ill care. We have worked further to separate suspected COVID-19 patients from general ill appointments. 

Many of our patients have check-up appointments scheduled in the coming weeks. As mentioned, we will arrange checkup appointments at strategic times to keep your healthy child from being exposed to ill patients. We feel children, especially under two years of age, should continue their scheduled appointments to ensure timely vaccinations are received. 

Any children suspected to have COVID-19 are being asked to contact our front office upon arrival to check in for their appointments from the comfort of their car.

For all visits to our offices, we encourage the number of individuals accompanying the patient be limited. When at all possible, please limit the visitors to one healthy adult. 

At this time, we have limited testing supplies on hand to confirm COVID-19 cases. We are keeping apprised of local testing centers as the situation develops. 

We want you and your family to be safe and healthy during this time. In order to do so, we recommend that you: 

Have cleaning and sanitation supplies available. Wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Clean and disinfect household and work surfaces consistently throughout the day.
When possible, avoid contact with people who are sick. 

Cough and sneeze into your elbow or cover with a tissue. Immediately throw away those tissues.  

Avoid touching your face, eyes, nose, and mouth. 

Eat healthy foods, drink plenty of water, and get good rest

Reserve face masks for those who have or are suspected of having COVID-19. 

Stay home when at all possible, avoid social gatherings, and non-essential outings to stores.

Cancel or avoid play dates as children and adults can spread the virus even when they are not showing symptoms. 

Based upon what we know so far, the majority of people who contract COVID-19 will have only minor symptoms and will not need to be hospitalized. People at higher risk of serious complications include the elderly, people with chronic health conditions, and people with compromised immune systems.

Should you have any questions about your child’s health or COVID-19, you may reach our office at 513-232-8100. You may also visit coronavirus.ohio.gov or contact the ODH COVID-19 call center at 1-833-4-ASK-ODH (1-833-4-257-634). 

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we do our best to keep our patients, their families, and our staff as healthy as possible. 

Sincerely, 

Your Anderson Hills Pediatrics Team

513-232-8100

As you have likely heard on the news, a Novel (new) coronavirus was first identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. Coronaviruses cause respiratory illnesses, ranging from the common cold to pneumonia.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continues to believe the risk of this Novel coronavirus to the American public remains low at this time; however, in order to protect you and others, we would like to share the following general information and tips for travelers.

The virus can spread from person to person. Symptoms include fever, cough, and shortness of breath.

To reduce your risk of any infection, we recommend the same precautions as those for avoiding the common cold and flu:

• Wash your hands often with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands.
• Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

If you recently traveled to China AND have a fever and cough or shortness of breath:

• Seek medical care right away. Before you visit our office or an emergency room, call ahead and share information on your recent travel and symptoms.
• Tell your health care provider or our staff immediately if you have returned from visiting China in the past 2 weeks.
• After you have been seen by a medical provider, stay home and avoid contact with others until you are well.
• Avoid travel on public transportation (such as bus, train, subway, metro, or airplane).
• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when coughing or sneezing.
• Wash hands often with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds. Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available.

If you are planning any travel outside of the US, visit the CDC’s Travelers’ Health webpage for the latest travel and health notices.

Information adapted from the CDC, and content provided in part by Phreesia.

Limited quantities of injectable flu vaccines have arrived at Anderson Hills Pediatrics. Due to the limited nature of these vaccines, we are reserving them for high risk patients, such as those with chronic conditions.

Our primary shipments of flu vaccines will be arriving later this month for patients of all ages! Our vaccine is the injectable quadrivalent preservative free flu vaccine that is available for those insured by private insurance.  This vaccine is designed to protect against four different flu strains.  It is especially important for children with asthma and other chronic conditions to be vaccinated against the flu. 

We have planned flu clinics beginning Saturday, October 5th and going through the end of November. We also will have some clinics during the evening hours on some week nights.  You may now schedule your child’s flu vaccine online via the patient portal. Or, you may call our office at (513) 232-8100 (option 1) to schedule a future appointment. 

The Ohio VFC (Vaccines for Children) program has not yet shipped our flu order.  Once we receive our supply of VFC flu vaccine we can administer those doses until we run out of stock.  When we use all of our stock of VFC flu doses, the flu vaccine for CareSource and Medicaid patients will need to be obtained from your county health department.   

Anderson Hills Pediatrics recommends immunizations as endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP).  Fainting, feeling dizzy or feeling lightheaded rarely occurs after vaccination and is most common among adolescents and young adults. For this reason a 15 minute period of observation in the office will routinely be performed after vaccination of children 11 years of age and older. If you choose to forgo the observation period, a waiver will need to be completed on behalf of the patient.

Thank you for choosing Anderson Hills Pediatrics, Inc. for your care!

NEWS & UPDATES – August 2019

We all know that smoking has negative consequences on our health. Luckily, the state of Ohio is working on efforts to help prevent or reduce smoking in our children.

According to the CDC, Ohio has one of the highest rates of adult smokers in the nation – 21.%. This past week Ohio became the 17th state to raise its minimum age on tobacco and electronic cigarette sales to 21 years old. The purpose of this change in law is prevent children from smoking as 94% of adult smokers stated they’d had their first cigarette prior to turning 21.

The Ohio Department of Public Health has added a service to all for children under 18 to get free, confidential, real-time help via phone, text or online chat. Follow the link below to check out more regarding “My Life, My Quit.” https://www.mylifemyquit.com/

Last week was the first confirmed case of Measles in Ohio since 2014. We are experiencing a major spread of the measles across 28 states currently in the US. While measles is still common in many parts of the world, this is the largest outbreak of cases reported nationwide since 1992.

Measles symptoms include a rash, high fever, runny nose, cough, loss of appetite and red, watery eyes. The rash usually lasts five to six days and begins at the hairline, moves to the face and upper neck, and proceeds down the body.  Diarrhea and ear infections are common complications of measles. 

Don’t hesitate to call our office if you are concerned that your child may be showing signs or symptoms of measles!

News Release: https://odh.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/odh/media-center/odh-news-releases/health-director-reports-first-measles-case-in-ohio

Check out more from the CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/measles/symptoms/signs-symptoms.html

If you have been watching or reading the news lately, you likely have heard about the flesh eating bacteria (necrotizing fasciitis) that is causing illnesses and deaths. This bacteria is known to cause death in 1/3 of those infected. Those at risk currently have open wounds, cuts or injuries that have broken the skin. If you or your child have open wounds, the CDC advises to stay clear of lakes, rivers, oceans, swimming pools, and other large bodies of water. Check out more from the CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/groupastrep/diseases-public/necrotizing-fasciitis.html