Nationwide Children’s Hospital will open a Close To HomeSM Center at 680 Park Avenue West Suite G05 in Mansfield, Ohio, February 1, 2010. The Mansfield Close To HomeSM Center will provide Richland and the surrounding counties with three specialty clinics in pediatric surgery, neurology and urology.
Patients from Richland, Ashland, Huron, Crawford, Morrow and Knox counties accounted for 22,297 visits to Nationwide Children’s Hospital in 2009.
The Pediatric Surgery Clinic will offer surgery consultation and post-surgical follow-up care. The Neurology Clinic will provide services in subspecialty evaluations and care for children who have neurological disorders affecting the central nervous system, spinal cord, nerves and muscles. The Urology Clinic will offer comprehensive diagnostic and therapeutic services for children with diseases of the genitourinary tract.
The Heart Center at Nationwide Children's Hospital has already provided outpatient pediatric cardiology services since 2004 at the 680 Park Avenue West location and will be moving to Suite G05 for March appointments. A Nationwide Children’s ChildLabSM has operated at 1204 Park Avenue West in Mansfield since mid-2008. ChildLabSM staff are specially trained in pediatrics and are able to conduct a full range of laboratory tests which are sent to Nationwide Children's for analysis in order to maintain high quality diagnostic care. A Westerville Close To HomeSM Center is located just about 55 miles from Mansfield and offers additional diagnostic services.
“We take care of patients who live in Richland and several surrounding counties, and a lot of their healthcare needs can be handled on an outpatient basis,” said Pediatrician Charles Shaw, M.D., whose pediatric practice is located at 370 Cline Avenue in Mansfield. “The Nationwide Children’s Hospital Heart Center services in Mansfield have been excellent for our patients and expanded specialty services will be great. I find that parents really appreciate the ability to see a specialist for their child locally.”
Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s Close To HomeSM Centers offer community-based testing, treatment and care for children and families depending on the needs of the community at convenient locations. The Close To HomeSM Centers offer specialized care for all children, newborns through young adults. The Mansfield location will be the ninth Close To HomeSM Center with current centers in Dublin, East Central Columbus, East Columbus, Gahanna, Hilliard, Newark, Westerville and Ironton.
Traci McKinney is looking foward to not having to travel for treatment of her nine-year-old son's seizure disorder. "Having Nationwide Children's Hospital's neurology services available right here in Mansfield is going to save us a lot of trips to Columbus and avoid possibly having to cancel Hunter's appointments due to bad weather," Mrs. McKinney said. "It's just going to be so much more convenient and easier on Hunter to be taken care of so close to our home."
Nationwide Children’s Hospital was ranked for the fourth consecutive year in the prestigious U.S. News & World Report 2009 “America’s Best Children’s Hospitals” list. The 2009 list included the top 30-ranked children’s hospitals in 10 pediatric specialties – urology, neurology and neurosurgery, heart and heart surgery, cancer, diabetes and endocrine disorders, digestive disorders, kidney disorders, neonatal care, orthopedics, and respiratory disorders. Nationwide Children’s ranked in the top 12 in urology and heart, in the top 25 in neurology and among the best in nine out of 10 categories, making it one of only 16 hospitals nationally recognized in this many specialties.
Parents should first call their pediatrician or family doctor who knows their child best if their child is in need of medical attention. For ChildLabSM information call (800) 934-6575. To make an appointment for a specialty clinic call (614) 722-6200. For further information or to schedule an appointment online, go to http://www.NationwideChildrens.org/Mansfield.