Pediatrics

Providing Dedicated Care for Children in Southwest Louisiana

At Memorial, our pediatric services, located on the 6th floor of our Oak Park campus, treat more kids than any other hospital in Lake Charles. With the only pediatric intensive care specialist, Memorial brings the same extraordinary dedication, skill and expertise of our adult care to children. Every pediatric registered nurse is certified in pediatric advanced life support, and our emergency room caters to children’s emergencies with board certified emergency physician coverage.

General Pediatrics

If your child has an immediate or long-term medical problem, you can take comfort in knowing that Memorial’s pediatric unit is specially designed and equipped to care for children requiring surgery or hospitalization for acute or chronic conditions. Specially trained in the medical, emotional and developmental needs of infants, children and adolescents, the department’s multidisciplinary staff provides comprehensive specialty care. For more information, call Memorial’s Pediatric Department at (337) 494-3050. PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit)

Pediatric Intensive Care

The only Level II Pediatric Intensive Care Unit in Southwest Louisiana is on the 6th floor of our main campus. Memorial’s PICU provides 24-hour care by a multidisciplinary team under the supervision of the area’s only board certified intensive care specialist, along with board certified pediatricians and pediatric critical care nurses who provide specialized care to critically ill children. Common conditions treated include severe asthma, complications from diabetes, severe infection, heart abnormalities or orthopedic accidents. The PICU also has the latest in spacelab monitoring technology..

Surgery

Whether it is surgery for an appendix, broken bone, hernia, gallbladder or tonsils, Memorial’s board certified, general surgeons and specialists offer the most common surgical services for children. Whenever possible, your child’s surgeon will perform the surgical procedure using minimally invasive laparoscopic or endoscopic techniques.

Chronic Illnesses

Memorial provides specialized care for children and adolescents with ongoing chronic illnesses such as congestive heart failure. We have a board certified pediatric cardiologist and a board certified inpatient critical care specialist on

staff that coordinate the best possible care for conditions that require lifelong treatment and frequent follow up.

Orthopedics

A child’s growing body creates special “kid only” health issues for young bones and muscles. Memorial’s orthopedists handle the common bone and joint injuries that befall otherwise healthy kids. Our expert team also specializes in sports medicine for young athletes, offering preventative and rehabilitative treatment of sports-related injuries. For more information, call (337) 494-4900.

Emergency Care

Open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, Memorial’s emergency department is equipped to handle your child’s everyday bumps and bruises, as well as his or her critical injuries and life-threatening conditions with expertise and compassion. In our ER, we offer kid-specific emergency treatment by an experienced staff of board-certified emergency medicine physicians, family medicine residents, nurse practitioners, clinical educators, and support personnel. For more information, call Memorial’s Emergency Department (337) 494-3036. If it is an emergency, call 911.

Diagnostics

Utilizing state-of-the-art digital imaging equipment, our experienced team of radiologists, nurses and radiologic technologists provide a complete array of pediatric diagnostic services at Memorial. Our technology enables referring physicians to have instant Internet access to the images and reports 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For more information, call Memorial’s Radiology Department at (337) 494-3070.

Child/Adolescent Psychiatric Services

Memorial’s Child/Adolescent Psychiatric Services are specifically designed to meet the mental health needs of school-aged children who are experiencing serious behavioral disturbances. Upon admission, our interdisciplinary team completes a comprehensive assessment of each patient to design an individualized plan that includes the family’s involvement.

To ensure academic success during treatment, the child/adolescent program maintains a working relationship with local school districts. Our program treats patients affected by a variety of psychiatric illnesses, including depression disorders, bipolar disorders, social withdrawal, self-destructive behaviors, thought disorders, substance abuse, phobias, and other anxiety disorders. For more information, call Memorial’s Child/Adolescent Psychiatric Services at (337) 480-7767.