Nov. 25--PLATTSBURGH -- Taking care of children's health can be a demanding practice, especially when considering the dramatic changes the profession has seen in the last few decades.
As with all health-care fields, pediatricians need to stay on top of their patients' changing needs. Whether it's an infant of a few months or a rapidly growing teenager, kids require special attention when medical conditions arise.
"When I was in training at med school, the diseases we were facing were much different," said Dr. John Tanner, a long-time Plattsburgh pediatrician who started a local practice in 1960 and retired in 1996.
"Diseases like polio have all but been wiped out. The infectious diseases we're seeing today have changed enormously."
MORE DEPRESSION
Pediatricians today deal with different strains of viral infections that need constant attention. But even more so, they face a demanding responsibility in dealing with children's emotional issues.
"A lot of what we do now is related to psycho-social issues," said Dr. David Cohen of Rainbow Pediatrics on North Margaret Street.
"There are more stress-related issues, more depression. Not that we didn't have them before, but they are more common, more intense."
An emphasis on preventive care and improved medicine and technologies have also enabled pediatricians to care for their patients more efficiently and effectively.
"There was a time when malignancy was a death sentence," Tanner said.
Young people who develop cancer have a much better chance for recovery, he added.
Vaccines have also been developed to do the miracle work in preventing disease just as the polio vaccine did decades ago.
With those and other improvements, inpatient services at hospitals have dropped dramatically.
For instance, CVPH Medical Center is in the process of downsizing from 12 to five beds in its children's unit, with an option to expand to eight or nine beds during busy times.
But doctors offices have been just as busy as ever as physicians deal with their changing clientele.
"You had much more time back then to work with the families," said Marti Burdo, a registered nurse in the community since 1971 who recently retired from Rainbow Pediatrics.
"I missed the closeness we had with families. It eventually became very fast paced."
COMMUNITY TIES
That busy atmosphere led Rainbow Pediatrics to a major renovation over the past several months that has increased the number of exam rooms and other services for patients.
"We needed more space," Cohen said of the renovations. "Our patients are not in the waiting rooms any more, so we decided to put more space into the exam rooms."
Tanner, with his partner Dr. Francis Ryan, first moved Rainbow Pediatrics to its current site along Scomotion Creek in the early 1980s. The building was originally a gas station and was converted into a bar and restaurant in the 1960s.
Now, it serves as one of several pediatrician offices in the region.
"We're relatively lucky," Cohen said. "We have four offices and 13 pediatricians serving the community. We've been one place (during a national shortage in physicians) that is not underserved."
Those doctors have also enjoyed a close relationship with CVPH Medical Center in Plattsburgh, which Cohen said was an added attraction for local pediatricians.
"By and large, people come here because they like the area," added Tanner, who is a North Country native. "For the medical community, this is a pleasant place to live and raise a family."
Cohen, who grew up in Burlington, still remembers coming to Plattsburgh as a kid and enjoying such sites as the Orange Julep fast-food stand on Margaret Street.
"Some of the most successful people (who have practiced medicine in the North Country) come from the area," he said. "They have special ties with the community and the people living here."
E-mail Jeff Meyers at: jmeyers@pressrepublican.com
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