Abington Hospital and CHOP Partner for Pediatric Surgery

Abington is adding pediatric surgery to its list of services at the onsite CHOP facility.

The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia has teamed up with Abington Memorial Hospital to offer expanded services at its Pediatric & Specialty Care Center at Abington. The 4,600-square-foot facility, which opened last spring, will now offer pediatric surgery services under the direction of surgeon Ala Frey, who splits time between rotations at Abington and CHOP in Philly. Joining Frey’s medical staff is Pablo Laje, another CHOP-trained surgeon.

The Specialty Care Center already offers specialists in cardiology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, neonatalogy and pulmonary medicine, as well as special tests like electrocardiograms. But Frey says under the new arrangement, she can do workups at Abington and make decisions as to whether a pediatric patient should be operated on at CHOP—as in complex cases requiring greater expertise—or if a more routine surgery can be done right there at Abington.

“What it means for the community is that if you live in Montgomery County and your kid needs his appendix out, you can have it done close to home instead of driving into the city to go to CHOP,” says Frey. She adds that for infants born at Abington, it could save the parents from unnecessary trips to CHOP when a procedure can be done onsite.

If a case does warrant a CHOP visit, the partnership means that followup after surgery can happen with Frey in Abington. And since the hospitals uses electronic medical records, specialists at both facilities are able to share information more easily.