 There’s nothing scarier to a parent than the possibility that your child may be seriously ill or injured. That’s why the Clute Barrow Nelson Children’s Center at St. Mary’s is here. Our team of highly skilled nurses, working with your child’s physicians, provides compassionate, age-appropriate care in a friendly, colorful healing environment. The most outstanding part of the Clute Barrow Nelson Children’s Center is St. Mary’s Children’s Specialty Services, a free-standing clinic located just behind the hospital. The only service of its kind in Northeast Georgia, this clinic brings some of the state’s leading experts in pediatric medicine to Athens, so parents and their children don’t have to drive to Atlanta or Augusta for important consultations. More than two dozen highly specialized physicians practice at the clinic on a rotating basis, seeing children referred to them by local pediatricians, family practitioners and other specialists. They provide care in pediatric subspecialties such as:
Since the service opened in March 2001, more than 10,000 children have received care there, saving them and their families thousands of hours lost hours from work and school time, and thousands of miles of driving. The service is doubly convenient because it is located on the St. Mary’s campus, so if your child needs additional testing, you can simply walk the few steps to St. Mary’s Hospital and have testing done in-house the same day. But that’s not all. The general pediatric unit of the Children’s Center is a place just for children, too. Staff members and specialists in this area are dedicated to working specifically with children. Your child will be cared for by health care professionals who won’t be splitting their time between your child and adults elsewhere in the hospital. And if your child needs urgent care, St. Mary’s Emergency Center is attuned to the needs of children, from staff trained in Pediatric Advanced Life Support to IV needles specially made to work in a child’s small blood vessels. St. Mary’s also meets the health care needs of children in diverse areas ranging from outpatient surgery to diabetes counseling to rehabilitation to home health care. Finally, St. Mary’s staff understands how upsetting a hospital visit can be to your child – and to you – and works to communicate clearly and calmly, to control pain, and to give comfort and reassurance to both your child and you. The Clute Barrow Nelson Children’s Center is an important
part of the mission of St. Mary’s Health Care System: to be a compassionate, healing presence in our community. FAQ’s:
How can my child see a specialist
at Children’s Specialty Services? If my child needs to be
admitted to the hospital, when can I visit? Who was Clute Barrow Nelson? |
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Clute
Barrow Nelson was a happy, normal boy, the first child of Don and
Phyllis Nelson of Athens, when he began having serious health problems.
Physicians found an inoperable tumor in his brain, leading to an
16-month fight to save his life that took him and his family to
numerous hospitals, clinics and facilities across the nation. His
courage and unshakable compassion for those around him touched all
of Northeast Georgia. Clute eventually lost his fight, dying peacefully
at age 6, but not before inspiring many, including hundreds of friends
at St. Mary’s, to work even harder on behalf of children like
him. His family – Don, Phyllis and brother Arthur –
kindly granted St. Mary’s permission to name our pediatric
services in his honor, in the hope that medical services for children
in the Athens area can be enhanced and save other families some
of the hardship and worry they and Clute endured.