ID Diagnosis and Care
The Infectious Diseases Team at Children’s Hospital Colorado provides outstanding clinical care for a full range of conditions related to pediatric infectious diseases (ID). Our mission is to deliver world-class patient care by diagnosing and managing infectious diseases conditions for all patients in our seven-state region. We have over 20 pediatric infectious diseases physicians and a core outpatient ID team who provide high quality, evidence-based care. In addition to expertise in diagnosis and clinical care, we also serve as teachers, researchers and thought leaders. Our inpatient and outpatient service manages children from diverse backgrounds, with a range of infectious diseases presentations, complications, and diagnostic dilemmas. Common conditions we evaluate include: fevers of unknown origin, recurrent fevers, lymphadenopathy, complicated infections including pneumonia, meningitis, bone and joint infections, Kawasaki Disease, infections in immunocompromised hosts, transplant infectious disease management, fever in the returning traveler and more recently COVID-19 and multi-inflammatory disease in children (MIS-C). An essential component of our inpatient and outpatient clinical care is education, and we provide specialized training and experience in pediatric ID for both our fellows in the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program as well as pediatric residents, medical students and other trainees throughout the University of Colorado and other institutions.
The Inpatient ID team is comprised of two teams; the core teaching service which is primarily responsible for all new consultations throughout the hospital with a focus on education, and a second service which is attending-run and manages established inpatients, new ID outpatients, manages outpatient calls and facilitates transitions of care from inpatient to outpatient as Our inpatient services are mostly consultative, with an inpatient ID service reserved for children with HIV. Our inpatient services average 3663 consultations per year, across two hospitals in our health system. Our ID Clinic is one of the most comprehensive pediatric outpatient clinics in the 7-state region. The clinic team manages oral and intravenous antibiotics for hundreds of children each year. Our services are augmented by our outstanding microbiology and clinical laboratories, which allow us to provide state-of-the-art diagnostics for the timely and reliable evaluation and management of children with infectious diseases. Our close relationship with the microbiology laboratory, incorporated into daily rounds, promotes education, facilities patient care, and strengthens collaboration. Members of our section encourage diagnostic stewardship and study the clinical impact and cost effectiveness of rapid diagnostic technologies for pediatric ID conditions. In addition to state-of-the-art clinical care for complicated infections, the team members contribute to ongoing scientific research around the country and internationally and are integral in the creation of clinical care guidelines and promoting evidence-based medicine practices. The ID team and individual providers have received local and national recognition for their clinical excellence and have received numerous awards for their outstanding patient-family care, including a 5-star rating for the core ID clinic providers, 5280 Top Doc recognitions, and Astute Clinician Awards.
Our team members include:
- Donna Curtis, MD, MPH: Co-Medical Director of Ambulatory Pediatric Infectious Diseases
- Heather Heizer, PA-C: Co-Medical Director of Ambulatory Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Pediatric Infectious Diseases APP
- Shannon Hughes, PA-C: Pediatric Infectious Diseases APP
- Hilarie Foster, RN: Outpatient RN
- Over 20 Pediatric Infectious Diseases Physicians
- 4 Pediatric Infectious Diseases Fellows
- Rotating residents and students