THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, November 2, 1996 TAG: 9611020263
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DEBRA GORDON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 84 lines
It doesn't take much to lure four pediatric orthopedic surgeons from their lair at Portsmouth Naval Medical Center to an elementary school here.
Just doughnuts, coffee and about 14 children whose twisted legs and bright smiles demand their attention.
Throw in a physical therapist or two, an orthotist to measure and adjust leg braces and a rehabilitation specialist to check out wheelchairs, and pretty soon you have a full-fledged orthopedic clinic - right in the heart of an elementary school.
That's the idea behind the ``orthopedic house call'' that Lt. Cmdr. Anthony Lapinsky led Friday morning in the cavernous physical therapy room at Pembroke Elementary School. The monthly clinic is available to military dependents throughout the city.
Bringing the medical professionals to children, instead of the other way around, offers a coordinated, team-centered approach to the multitude of problems these children have, Lapinsky explained. It also lets doctors conduct more thorough examinations.
On Friday, for instance, instead of trying to evaluate 2-year-old Melissa Pethtel's motor skills in a tiny examining room at the naval hospital, Lapinsky watched the Virginia Beach toddler push a plastic shopping cart around a space bigger than most doctor's offices.
When it came time to examine 7-year-old James Collins, Lapinsky didn't have to rely on second-hand information from Collins' father about how the boy was doing. James' therapist, Lori Wiggins, who works with him every day, was right there to tell Lapinsky that she was concerned about the muscle tone in James' neck.
Over in the corner, Chris Dailey of Rehabilitation Health Care worked on James' wheelchair, ``growing'' it because Wiggins told him it needed adjusting.
Another benefit of the on-site clinic is that the children, most of whom attend Pembroke Elementary's special-needs day care or classes, remain in their normal setting.
There's nothing to make them tense or uncooperative - no antiseptic smells, strangers in white coats or bad memories of coming to the hospital for surgeries.
Lapinsky started the clinic last year. It is based at Pembroke Elementary, a centrally located school that once was the city's main site for special-needs children and still houses a large special-needs population.
He modeled the clinic after similar ones he'd seen while completing his residency in San Diego.
Although the naval hospital runs a weekly pediatric orthopedic clinic, Lapinsky said it takes several hours to evaluate new patients and coordinate their care with other medical professionals, like physical therapists and orthotists.
``I saw a better way to do it,'' Lapinsky said.
And it is better, say the parents who were there Friday.
``It helps me out a lot,'' Vickie Lemaster of Virginia Beach said as she popped a pacifier out of 2-year-old Cory's mouth. Instead of taking half a day off to bring Cory to the Portsmouth clinic, she can stop at the school on her way to work.
Friday's problem was the new leg splints Cory had received earlier in the week. Cory, a blond charmer with cerebral palsy, has an amazing ability to smush up his toes and pull his feet out of the new splints.
The orthotist, Ron Hopkins of Advanced Orthopedic Technologies, said Cory needed a refitting right away.
``We have an appointment at the end of the month,'' Lemaster said. ``That's the earliest your office could get us in.''
``No,'' Hopkins said. ``We're squeezing you in next week.''
For Lapinsky, the school-based clinic is a classic example of what the Navy's surgeon general, Vice Adm. Harold Koenig, calls ``taking health care to the deckplate.''
Says Lapinsky: ``You can't get any closer to children than school.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by MOTOYA NAKAMURA/The Virginian-Pilot
As Kathy Pethtel looks on, Dr. Scott Lemek examines her daughter,
Melissa Pethtel, 2, at Pembroke Elementary School.
Photo by MOTOYA NAKAMURA\The Virginian-Pilot
Lt. Cmdr. Anthony Lapinsky, a pediatric orthopedist, second from
left, and Rick Savarino, an orthopedic resident, examine Aliesa
Bengsch at Pembroke Elementary School. Ron Hopkins of Advanced
Orthopedic Technologies, far left, and Jenny Spencer, Aliesa's
physical therapist, look on.
KEYWORDS: PEDIATRIC ORTHOPEDIC CLINIC MILITARY DEPENDENTS by CNB