Hospital Pediatrics

Pediatric Hospital Medicine

The Section of Pediatric Hospital Medicine provides tertiary level inpatient medical care to the children of southern Alberta and neighbouring Saskatchewan and British Columbia who require admission at the Alberta Children’s Hospital.

Thirty two hospital pediatricians provide care to over 85% of the medical inpatients at the Alberta Children’s Hospital.

Clinical care is provided in the setting of:

  • Two teaching teams which, in addition to provision of clinical care, provide the training and supervision of 13-16 trainees from clerkship to senior pediatric residents on a 24/7 basis;
  • Two complex care teams where pediatricians provide inpatient care to medically complex and fragile children;
  • Two additional inpatient acute care services;
  • An admitting/consult service to ensure timely patient throughput and support for subspecialty, psychiatric, and surgical patients with medical complexity and/or acuity; 
  • In-house pediatrician coverage provided 24/7, including code team leadership

We also provide the following outpatient supports:

  • A follow-up clinic which supports reduced length of stay and timely reassessments of discharged patients who would benefit from pediatric assessment in the immediate post discharge period 
  • A Complex Care Outpatient Program where pediatricians work in concert with a nurse practitioner and nurse to improve transitions to the community for medically complex children with prolonged hospital stays

Referrals for each of these outpatient clinics have specific criteria and limitations. Please contact the Section for additional information.

In addition to providing excellent tertiary level inpatient care to a wide scope of acute and complex pediatric patients and multi-level learner education, the Section strives to improve clinical care and pediatric education through numerous site and Section endeavours.

Active areas of research in the Section:

  • Quality Improvement and Health Systems Research – Dr. Michelle Bailey:  Dr. Bailey is actively involved in a number of QI projects in the area of asthma, bronchiolitis and inpatient admission and handover processes. In conjunction with the MNCY SCN and AHS Virtual Health, Dr. Bailey is also leading a mixed methods research study of a novel tertiary-regional inpatient telehealth collaborative clinical care model called TRaC-K (Telehealth Rounding and Consultation for Kids).
  • Medical Education – Dr. Suzette Cooke: Dr. Cooke is actively involved in research related to the creation and evaluation of curriculum related to clinical reasoning in post-graduate trainees. She is also leading research, together with Drs. Chantelle Barnard and Amonpreet Sandhu, to create and evaluate the impact of curricula and tools designed to support healthcare providers in the navigation of care crises in the inpatient setting.
  • Complex Care – Dr. Tammie Dewan: Dr. Dewan is actively involved in a number of projects to address specific clinical issues frequently associated with medically complex and fragile children (i.e. reflux, secretion management, irritability), as well as system processes to improve care delivery to this population.
  • Relationship-Centered Care and Patient Experience – Dr. Chantelle Barnard:  Using a variety of qualitative methods (thematic analysis, grounded theory, scoping reviews), Dr. Barnard is actively involved in a number of studies looking at communication crises between healthcare providers and patients and families, as well as understanding the experience of caregivers and healthcare providers in caring for medically fragile infants on the inpatient unit.  She is also designing a mobile web page to guide families when their children are admitted to hospital.
  • Paediatric Inpatient Research Network (PIRN) – This is a Canadian hospital-based research network focused on improving the outcomes of hospitalized children through multi-centre, patient-oriented research. Presently, two PIRN studies are being led locally by Dr. Gemma Vomiero: (i) Periorbital and orbital cellulitis care and outcomes, and (ii) Patient-oriented research priorities for pediatric hospital care.

For information about elective opportunities for medical students and clinical clerks click here.

Pediatric Hospital Medicine Fellowship Program

In July 2018, the Section launched a Pediatric Hospital Medicine Fellowship Program. The purpose of this program is to provide state-of-the-art subspecialty training that will prepare physicians to deliver competent, evidence-based care to acute and complex hospitalized children. This fellowship combines clinical, academic and individualized training and mentorship to support fellows in developing competencies in clinical care, quality improvement, medical education, advocacy and research in the field of Pediatric Hospital Medicine (PHM).

The duration of the fellowship is one year and is accredited by the University of Calgary.

For more information about the Pediatric Hospital Medicine Fellowship Program, please contact the PHM Fellowship Director, Dr. Suzette Cooke at suzette.cooke@ahs.ca.

Dr. Christopher Andrews
Dr. Michelle JA Bailey (Section QI and Patient Safety Lead)
Dr. Susan Bannister (Section Resident Lead)
Dr. Chantelle Barnard (Section Simulation Lead)
Dr. Adeline Brimacombe
Dr. Raman Chawla
Dr. Gary Chow
Dr. Deanna Cook
Dr. Suzette Cooke (PHM Fellowship Director)
Dr. Laura Davies (Section Chief)
Dr. Tammie Dewan
Dr. Julie Fisher  
Dr. Michael Friesen
Dr. Sarah Hall
Dr. Renee Jackson
Dr. Sangeeta Jain
Dr. Lindsay Long
Dr. Catherine Macneil
Dr. Leanne Morris 
Dr. Vikhashni (Winnie) Nagesh (Locum 2022-2023)
Dr. Chris Novak 
Dr. Candace Rypien
Dr. Amonpreet Sandhu
Dr. Lindsay Stockdale
Dr. Cristina Stoian
Dr. Sidd Thakore (Medical Lead ACH Follow Up Clinic)
Dr. Peter Vetere
Dr. Michael Vila
Dr. Gemma Vomiero 
Dr. Karen-Rose Wilson (Medical Lead, Complex Care Program)
Dr. Theresa Wu