Pediatrics

Our pediatric health specialists support your child's needs from infancy to young adulthood. Working closely with your child's pediatrician, we ensure they get the most inclusive care possible.

Some of our pediatric specialty care includes:

• Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU)
• Pediatric cardiology
• Pediatric endocrinology
• Pediatric gastroenterology
• Pediatric imaging services
• Pediatric mental health and well-being
• Pediatric neurology
• Pediatric oncology
• Pediatric orthopedic care
• Pediatric pulmonary care
• Pediatric rehabilitation
• Pediatric sleep medicine
• Pediatric surgery

Other pediatric support services include care management, pediatric nutrition, pharmacy and respiratory therapy services.

Our hospital is dedicated to identifying and treating children with hearing loss. If your child received a diagnosis of hearing issues, early intervention may have better outcomes than those who wait to be treated. Our pediatric audiologist serves children from birth to 21 years old across all developmental levels. We also can serve adults with special needs, who may be best served with a pediatric provider.

Our pediatric audiologist appropriately assesses your child through several subtests including looking in the ear with a light (otoscopy), checking middle ear function (tympanometry) and evaluating hearing ability (audiometry). In combination with other computer measurements, we can make a conclusion about hearing status. We offer a range of diagnostic hearing services as well as audiological management plans based on the needs of each individual.

When to assess your child's hearing

Hearing is an important part of your child's development. With limited or no access to speech and other sounds around them, your child cannot appropriately develop speech and language skills. This greatly impacts their ability to read and write, as well as their social skills. Our team works together to assess your child's development if they are having behavioral concerns, or if they are medically at risk for hearing to change. If you're unsure about the need to evaluate your child's hearing, some reasons include:

• Acquired conditions, such as meningitis or traumatic brain injury
• Birth complications, such as prematurity or a post-birth hospital stay longer than five days
• Caregiver concern because of how your child responds at home or school
• Congenital conditions, such as trisomy 21 or Turner syndrome
• Developmental delays
• Family history of permanent childhood hearing loss
• History of ear infections
• Referral for hearing screening from school or pediatrician
• Speech or language delays

Diagnostic testing

We provide different assessments to determine whether or not your child has a hearing issue and what its cause may be. For sound booth tests, you will need to sit quietly with your child while they wear headphones. To get a correct evaluation, it is important that you not help your child during their test.

Our diagnostic testing options include:

• Auditory evoked potential evaluations — Pediatric hearing test, offered when the child is asleep or under sedation, that determines if the issue is caused by a neurological block
• Conventional audiometry — Child is asked to raise their hand or say "yes" when they hear a sound or word
• Conditioned play audiometry — Child is taught to play a game (drop a block in a bin, place a peg on a peg board) when they hear a sound
  
• Otoacoustic emissions (OAE) — Assessment involves playing low sounds into soft headphones and recording the vibration response of the child's cochlea
  
• Screening of newborns — Includes OAE assessment or other methods
• Visual reinforcement audiometry — Training your child to listen by lighting up a toy when the child turns to look following hearing a sound
  

Management services and referrals

We can help manage both behind-the-ear hearing aids and bone-anchored hearing aids. Our services also include referrals for cochlear implant assessment and evaluations for auditory processing disorder (APD). If your child needs auditory processing testing or cochlear implant evaluation, selection and programming, we have a comprehensive state-wide list of audiologists who can help.

Contact our department with questions or to schedule an appointment at (828) 213-9727. A referral from your child’s primary care provider or other medical doctor is necessary for any visit.

We understand that a hospital experience can be scary for your child and stressful for your family. Our providers specialize in care just for kids, and our caring team of Child Life Specialists is dedicated to easing the stress and anxiety that comes from a hospital stay. We provide acute and critical care for hospitalized pediatric patients ranging in age from newborn to 18 years old. Our PICU is the only critical care pediatric service available in our region.

We take security seriously when your child is in our care. Parents, family and visitors must have a pass (given at the 2nd floor guest services desk at the G elevators) before entering:

• Labor and delivery
• Mother baby
• Pediatrics
• PICU
• NICU

The pediatric outpatient laboratory is a child-friendly space where your child can feel safe during lab work. We provide services if your child is receiving outpatient care or care from outside practices. Our lab has minimal wait times for routine tests and can have most results back to the ordering physician by the next business day. For questions, please call us at (828) 213-9752 or (828) 213-9751.

If your child is struggling with getting proper nutrition and it's impacting their health, our registered pediatric dietitians can help. With the experience and education to provide medical nutrition therapy (MNT), our dieticians know how to work with your child in a caring, friendly manner. We provide individualized assessment, counseling and recommendations to assist in the treatment, management or prevention of acute or chronic disease. During visits, our pediatric nutritionists gather your child's medical history, review growth charts and discuss current dietary intake to help determine the most beneficial nutrition plan.

Our dieticians have special certification in pediatric weight management issues and clinical nutrition support services. We can assist your child if they have feeding disorders, cystic fibrosis, congenital heart defects or pediatric cancer.

A referral is required from your child's physician. For questions about our pediatric weight management program, please call (828) 213-1740.

In order to help your child during an uncomfortable or stressful procedure, our sedation team offers a safe solution. Sedation can help your child stay relaxed and calm during medical procedures while also allowing them to breathe on their own and respond to certain cues. Ours is the only credentialed pediatric sedation team in the region.

A physician referral is required for our sedation services. For questions about our sedation services, please contact your referring provider.

Reuter Outpatient Center offers a full range of pediatric specialty services, all situated in a convenient outpatient setting. Your child has access to all of our medical specialists, along with Child Life Specialists, laboratory services and pharmacy care.