[February 07, 2013]

Children's Hospital Los Angeles Opens South Bay Outpatient Center

Children's Hospital Los Angeles has opened a new outpatient care center in the South Bay this week, providing the community with a medical facility staffed by 14 physicians with expertise in 10 pediatric specialties: cardiology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, neurology, ophthalmology, orthopaedics, otolaryngology (ENT), plastic surgery, pulmonology and urology.

Paul Kokorowski, a pediatric urologist, visits with a patient, Gael Madera, at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. The Manhattan Beach, Ca. physician will have office hours at the hospital's new South Bay outpatient center. (Photo: Business Wire)

"We are honored and thrilled to be bringing our exceptional care and our pediatric specialists from Children's Hospital Los Angeles to the South Bay," says Richard D. Cordova, FACHE, president and CEO of Children's Hospital Los Angeles. "The community has been longtime supporter of the hospital and now we are bringing our excellent outpatient clinical services to South Bay families and their children."

Rodney B. Hanners, the hospital's senior vice president and chief operating officer and a resident of Torrance, Calif., says the need for the services Children's Hospital Los Angeles - South Bay will be providing is reflected in the number of young patients from the community currently receiving care at the hospital's main campus in Hollywood and its outlying clinics-almost 6,000 inpatients and outpatients totaling more than 36,000 visits in 2011. "Many children living in Torrance, Palos Verdes and the beach communities and surrounding areas can benefit from Children's Hospital's local presence," Hanners says. "My wife and I have raised two children in the South Bay and we have come across many Children's Hospital patients over the years. We understand commute times can be long and people want to spend more time with their families, so the community really benefits by having access to so many pediatric subspecialties close to home."

That sentiment is echoed by Sergio Pintado of Gardena, Calif., a project superintendent of W-E-O'NEIL, an El Segundo-based construction company. Pintado's son, Andrew Ramirez, 15, suffered a severe back injury last October in a football mishap while playing for Lawndale High School. The sophomore safety required spinal fusion surgery at Children's Hospital, but he has since returned home and is back in school. "I can't say enough about the great care Andrew received at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, from the staff to the nurses to the surgeons," Pintado says. "This outpatient center will be a great benefit to my family and to all South Bay families; we now have access to Children's Hospital's high level of care right in our own neighborhood."

While the outpatient center doesn't provide inpatient services, the center's specialists can provide a wide range of outpatient services in the 6,138 square foot space that includes 11 exam rooms and walk-in X-Ray facilities. In addition, children who might require a procedure can have their pre-operation evaluation and post-operation follow-up care right in the South Bay. The hospital consulted with local pediatricians to determine which specialty services might be most helpful for South Bay pediatricians and their patients, says Paul Kokorowski, MD, of Manhattan Beach, a pediatric urologist who will have office hours at Children's Hospital Los Angeles - South Bay. "Children's Hospital physicians have great relationships with many South Bay community pediatricians, who are pleased that their patients will now have convenient access to the hospital's pediatric specialists," he says. "We are looking to collaborate with local primary care pediatricians to enhance the access to and quality of pediatric specialty care in the South Bay."

The hospital's philosophy is to provide medical services to complement what already exists in the community and the local pediatricians have welcomed our specialists and subspecialists, says Robert Adler, MD, MSEd, senior vice chair of the hospital's Department of Pediatrics and chief medical director of the Children's Hospital Los Angeles Health System. "We are not here to compete with pediatricians and primary care physicians, but to work with them," he says.

Preceded by the hospital's outpatient centers in Arcadia and Valencia, Children's Hospital Los Angeles - South Bay is the third ambulatory care facility opened by Children's Hospital since 2010. Earlier this year, the hospital also joined forces with Providence Tarzana Medical Center to jointly operate Providence Tarzana's pediatric and pediatric intensive care units, where patients now have access to Children's Hospital Los Angeles pediatric specialty services.

Families with children who would benefit from the hospital's services in the South Bay will be able to access inpatient care in Children's Hospital's new state-of-art inpatient tower, the 317-bed Marion and John E. Anderson Pavilion, which opened in July 2011. "The Anderson Pavilion provides the added capacity that our hospital has needed to extend its pediatric specialty services to communities in Greater Los Angeles," says Cordova.

The South Bay outpatient center is conveniently located at 3440 Torrance Blvd., Ste. 100, Torrance, Ca. 90503, just a block from the Del Amo Fashion Center. It is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. The site is staffed by Board-Certified and Board-Eligible pediatric clinicians. Staff will also provide walk-in X-Ray services. Appointments can be made at 310-303-3890. For additional information go to CHLA.org/SouthBay.

About Children's Hospital Los Angeles

Children's Hospital Los Angeles has been named the best children's hospital in California and among the top five in the nation for clinical excellence with its selection to the prestigious U.S. News & World Report Honor Roll. Children's Hospital is home to The Saban Research Institute, one of the largest and most productive pediatric research facilities in the United States. Children's Hospital is also one of America's premier teaching hospitals through its affiliation since 1932 with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.

For more information, visit CHLA.org. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn, or visit our blog: WeAreChildrens.org.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20130207005436/en/

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