Our Services

Child and Adolescent Clinic offers a full array of services to help your child maintain good health. We have been nationally recognized as a Patient Centered Medical Home , and aim to provide children's health care that is family centered, compassionate, coordinated, comprehensive, and accessible. We provide well child care according to AAP/Bright Futures guidelines. You can read more on this page about specific services, or click the links for more information.

  • Dental Health Screening
  • Depression and Anxiety
  • Diabetes
  • Dietary and Nutrition Guidance
  • Ear Infections
  • Eczema
  • Fever
  • Foster Care
  • Flu
  • Genitals and Urinary Tract Infections
  • Gynecological Exams
  • Hearing Screening
  • Heart Conditions
  • Immunizations
  • Lab Testing
  • Lactation Consultant
  • Learning/developmental disabilities

Ask Dr. Sue

Click here to access helpful answers to many parent questions about caring for your child's health.

Adolescent Medicine
Adolescence can be a confusing time for both teens and their parents. As the adolescent matures both physically and psychologically, he or she may have an increased desire for privacy and an increasing number of questions about themselves and their place in the world. At the Child and Adolescent Clinic, we acknowledge and respect this increasing independence by changing the structure of our visits to include time with the adolescent alone, as well as time with the adolescent and his or her parent. We try to be good listeners, responding respectfully to the concerns of our adolescent patients.
The transition from adolescence to adulthood takes many forms. For some, this will include going to college. We offer pre-college visits to ensure that the teen has received appropriate vaccinations, including the fairly new meningitis vaccine, Menactra, and the Tetanus/Pertussis (whopping cough) booster vaccine. We also emphasize age-appropriate safety information, including personal safety and the dangers of alcohol and drug use. If the adolescent has chronic conditions that require ongoing prescriptions, we work with the adolescent to ensure continued access to those medications, either by providing the prescriptions through our clinic, or by coordinating the transition to another provider (such as student health) by transferring the necessary medical records and information. For all young adults with complex medical conditions, we work with them to make the transition to adult medical care a successful one.

Care Coordination
Care Coordination can help you better access needed medical care and services for your child. Your Child and Adolescent Clinic Doctor or Pediatric Nurse Practitioner can request a Patient Care Advocate be assigned to you and your family. The Patient Care Advocate is your personal connection with your Medical Home Clinician to help you access needed services regarding your child’s medical or mental health needs.

We recognize that you, the parent, is the expert on your child. The Patient Care Advocate will ask about your child’s and your family’s needs, concerns, goals, and questions. She will work with you to help you build a strong link with your Medical Home Clinician for your child. She is available to assist your family during challenging levels of stress and point you in the right direction to obtain needed services. Your Patient Care Advocate is just a phone call away. If you would like extra support to navigate your child’s challenging medical or mental health needs, just ask your Child and Adolescent Clinic Doctor or Pediatric Nurse Practitioner.

Dental Health
Dental cavities are the most common disease caused by infection in children. Our pediatricians and nurse practitioners assess dental health at each well child visit through the first few years of life, and provide guidance for parents regarding cavity prevention. We promote dental health by providing fluoride prescriptions for children living in homes without fluoridated water, and by applying fluoride varnish to the teeth. "The American Dental Association supports the use of fluoride varnishes as safe and efficacious within a caries prevention program that includes caries diagnosis, risk assessment, and regular dental care." Our service is not intended to replace routine dental care, but to supplement it. We also offer referrals to pediatric dentists when necessary for evaluation and treatment of childhood dental disease. Finally, we perform presurgical evaluations for patients who require dental care under general anesthesia.

Foster Care
Prompt, comprehensive, coordinated care is provided to children who enter foster care. Our mission is to create a family-centered medical home for the new foster family.

Immunizations
Child and Adolescent Clinic believes strongly in preventative care. We follow the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines for Immunizations . All vaccines except the influenza shot designed for children older than three are now thimerisol free. The state of Washington provides most vaccines free of charge, so you or your insurance will usually be responsible only for a handling and injection fee. Our clinic is enrolled in Child Profile, a nationwide organization that allows confirmation of your child's immunizations to follow them from state to state, even if other records are unavailable.

 

Hearing Screening
Child and Adolescent Clinic fully participates in the Washington State Newborn Hearing Screening Program. All newborn babies undergo painless Otoacoustic Emmissions (OAE) testing either at the hospital shortly after birth, or at the clinic. Infants who do not pass the initial screening are retested at the clinic at one of their early appointments. Babies with persistent difficulties or risk factors for hearing loss are referred to experienced hearing professionals so that interventions and therapies can begin early for hearing-impaired infants. In addition to newborn screening, all school-aged children have hearing screenings during their annual well-child visits.

Patient Resources
Our patient education program relies heavily on material written by our own doctors and nurse practitioners. This information is kept up to date by regular review and revision. We also have information provided by the American Academy of Pediatrics and other trusted resources available to you. Our goal is to give you as much information as possible so you can be an active, knowledgeable partner in managing your child's health. If you have a particular topic that you would like to learn more about, ask us for suggestions.

Visiting Subspecialists
When your child needs care that is beyond our area of expertise, or our pediatricians feel your child could benefit from seeing a subspecialist, we provide a referral. Most of our pediatric subspecialist colleagues are not located in the Longview/Kelso area, and for many of our patients this presents a transportation challenge. We have partnered with two of our pediatric subspecialists to allow them to see your child here at Child and Adolescent Clinic. Currently, we have visiting subspecialists for:

  • Cardiology - Pediatric Cardiology Center, once per month
  • Endocrinology - David Snyder, MD , once per quarter

Quality Assurance
Child and Adolescent Clinic pediatricians and pediatric nurse practitioners are continually reviewing our policies and procedures to ensure that they meet the most up to date and evidence-based standards of care. We have a weekly meeting dedicated solely to reviewing our existing practice guidelines and incorporating the latest research and literature on a given topic. Our Child Nurturing Guide and patient handouts are updated on an annual basis also. We do all this to ensure that the care your child receives is not only the standard of care, but the best care that they can get.

Sports Medicine
Every year, an increasing number of children participate in individual or team sports. The clinicians at CAC are happy to perform the annual or biannual Preparticipation Physical Evaluation for your child or adolescent. In addition, we will evaluate your young athlete's acute or overuse injuries. We can help to clarify the diagnosis and to establish treatment plans, and we work closely with local physical therapists, orthopedic surgeons, and radiologists when referrals are appropriate.

Stop Smoking Assistance
Our staff is committed to helping our adolescents stop smoking. We strongly urge all household members to stop smoking as well. Prevention of second hand smoke exposure has been shown to be an important way of preventing frequent ear infections and pneumonias, and decreasing the chance of developing childhood asthma. We have staff specially trained as Prevention/Intervention Specialists who work with our doctors and nurse practitioners to help teenagers stop smoking. They offer brief counseling sessions using practical suggestions and information you can take home. We encourage follow up visits with one of our doctors or nurse practitioners if there are questions or struggles. The Washington Quit Line can help as well. We won't give up if you don't!

Telephone Advice
Child and Adolescent Clinic offers a free telephone advice service to its patients. For parents who have questions about what to do next, or who are not sure whether their child needs to be seen at the clinic, help is available 24/7. Our Medical Assistants follow estalished guidelines to answer questions, and there is always a physician available to address more complicated concerns. This service is available to patients seen in both our Longview office and our Salmon Creek office. Call 360-577-1771 during regular business hours, or 360-577-1200 after hours.

 

Vision Screening
A simple eye exam can give you peace of mind that your child can see well! And catching any difficulties early will make all the difference in your child's abilities at school. Child and Adolescent Clinic offers vision screening at every well child examination, beginning at age 18 months. From ages 18 months to 5 years, we use an automatic vision screener that can check your child's vision before they even learn the alphabet! Beginning at age 6, we use the eye chart you all remember.