ӰԺ and Children's Wisconsin Pediatric Rheumatology Patient Care
The Pediatric Rheumatology service of the ӰԺ and Children’s Wisconsin provides multidisciplinary, longitudinal, comprehensive care to children with rheumatic diseases. This includes continual care in our ambulatory clinics as well as in-patient care to children with rheumatic diseases when necessary. Our five faculty physicians, two fellows, and one nurse practitioner provide ambulatory care at three sites: The Children’s Clinics Building on the main campus adjacent to Children’s Wisconsin in Milwaukee, and the ambulatory clinics of Children’s Wisconsin-Fox Valley in Neenah, Wisconsin and Kenosha Clinic-Children’s Wisconsin in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Our service also provides in-patient and ambulatory consultation for children with a wide variety of musculoskeletal, inflammatory, and autoimmune conditions. We care for and evaluate children and young adults who range in age from newborns to college students. In addition to providing direct clinical care, our service participates in clinical trials of therapeutic agents, clinical registry studies to monitor long term outcomes, multicenter quality improvement activities, and other clinical studies to improve the care we provide to children with rheumatic diseases. We work closely with primary care providers, particularly for those children and families who live a distance away, to coordinate the needs of our patients and to help minimize, as much as possible, the burden on families of caring for a child with a chronic rheumatic disease. We strive to educate our patients and families regarding their illness, recognizing that those who understand their condition and the rationale for treatment are more likely to experience optimal outcomes.
Our service is one of many within the ӰԺ and Children’s Wisconsin, and we can engage the many resources of these organizations to care for our patients. We frequently enlist the help of our colleagues in other subspecialties to provide the best care for our patients, and there is a high level of collaboration and communication among the subspecialists that we work with. Similarly, we are a multidisciplinary service, and our nurses, social worker, and administrative staff also are closely involved in the care of the children we serve, working to ensure that we provide comprehensive care to our patients and their families.
Pediatrics Rheumatology Patient Education
Camp M.A.S.H. (Make Arthritis Stop Hurting)
Camp M.A.S.H. is a 6-day camping experience for children aged 9-17 with the diagnosis of a rheumatic disease. The camping experience is held at a permanent Easter Seal Camping facility located in the Wisconsin Dells. Children and adolescents in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minnesota are welcome and encouraged to attend. The Camp is staffed with a rheumatology nurse practitioner as well as several staff nurses. Pediatric rheumatology physicians and fellows frequently attend as well. The camp is sponsored by the Wisconsin chapter of the Arthritis Foundation.
Lupus Day
Lupus Education Day is an annual family-centered educational opportunity for children, adolescents, and family members afflicted with lupus to learn about the disease and its management and to meet other children with lupus and their families. Physicians and nurses present information regarding recent advances in the care of lupus, and participate in informal discussion with children, their parents and families, and other care providers.
Winter Family Fun Day
Winter Family Fun Day is a yearly educational day for Wisconsin families with a child or adolescent diagnosed with a rheumatic disease. This program provides educational programs as well as social functions for families who have a child or adolescent with a rheumatic disease. The program is sponsored by the Wisconsin chapter of the Arthritis Foundation in collaboration with the staff at Children's Wisconsin and the ӰԺ.
Contact Us
Department of Pediatrics
Children's Corporate Center
999 N. 92nd St.
Milwaukee, WI 53226
(414) 266-6695 (fax)