| BMH
To Initiate Night-time Hospitalist Service
A hospital needs an intricate blend of skills to meet
the increasingly complicated level of care required
by its in-patient population. In order to continue providing
the best care to hospitalized patients, Brattleboro
Memorial Hospital is initiating a Night Hospitalist
Service. Hospitalist care at BMH represents one of the
nation’s fastest-growing new physician specialties.
A doctor skilled in inpatient medicine will be available
at the hospital every night, from 7 PM to 7 AM to respond
to changing inpatient needs, along with urgent, critical,
or emergency inpatient situations that arise during
the night.
The hospitalist will collaborate with the patient’s
personal attending physician to provide in-hospital
coverage for the general medical care of hospitalized
patients 16 years and older, and to provide medical
consultation to surgical patients, when needed. Hospitalists
admit patients to the hospital in place of the personal
attending physicians participating in the new hospitalist
service. All medical, surgical, and pediatric specialists/sub-specialists
will be available to the hospitalist for telephone and
on-site consultation as needed.
Carolyn Taylor-Olson, MD has been appointed as Medical
Director of the new Hospitalist Service at BMH. This
position is part-time, but Taylor-Olson will also be
assuming several of the hospitalist shifts. Dr. Taylor-Olson’s
roles are focused on administration and operations related
to this program.
The overall quality of care delivered by the Night
Hospitalist Service at BMH will be overseen by the program
Medical Director and the Chief Medical Officer (David
Albright, MD), who will ensure high quality care, good
communication, optimal collaboration, and consistent
practices.
“After much study and deliberation, the administration,
medical staff, and hospital board have concluded that
a Hospitalist Service is clearly the most innovative
and effective approach to provide quality and excellence
for in-patient care,” according to BMH President/CEO
Barry Beeman, “Being in the hospital through the
night will enable the physician to respond immediately
to subtle changes in a patient’s condition and
provide effective communication with the patient’s
personal physician,” he concluded.
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