Five years ago, Valley Children’s in Madera launched a new program to help the hospital’s patients with complex chronic diseases transition out of pediatric care to adult care,where finding providers knowledgeable about their conditions may be hard to come by.
That “transition care” program, run by a doctor and a licensed clinical social worker, involves detailed consultations with patients, partnerships with primary care doctors throughout the region, and education on disease self-management. According to the hospital, it has now worked with an estimated 400 kids.
In this next interview, KVPR’s Kerry Klein caught up with Dr. Patrick Burke, the medical director for adult care and transition at Valley Children’s as well as the director of the young adult and transition care program, about the improvements he’s observed in patients aging out of pediatrics.
