HEALTHY LIFESTYLE · DECEMBER 2018
HEALTHY LIFESTYLE · DECEMBER 2018
DRISCOLL CHILDREN’S
SPECIALTY CENTER
BROWNSVILLE IS A PEDIATRIC OUTPATIENT CENTER THAT
DELIVERS SPECIALIZED AND COMPLEX MEDICAL CARE
EXCLUSIVELY FOR CHILDREN FROM THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY.
D
riscoll gastroenterologists
such as Ashok Jain, MD, and
Vera Okwu, MD, travel from
Driscoll Children’s Hospital
in Corpus Christi, to the
Specialty Center in Brownsville to treat
patients with gastrointestinal and liver
disorders, as well as nutritional problems of
infants, children and adolescents. The clinic
also has Sabeen Syed, MD, on staff who treats
patients at the main campus.
Vera Okwu, MD, says that she
and her fellow gastroenterologists
are always available to their
patients to ensure they are
receiving excellent
pediatric healthcare.
“I’ve been seeing patients in the Rio Grande
Valley for the past 25 years,” said Dr. Jain.
“We started in Harlingen, and then expanded
into McAllen and Brownsville.”
• Gastroesophageal reflux
• Recurrent abdominal pain
• Diarrheal disorders
• Constipation/encopresis
• Inflammatory bowel
disease
• Peptic ulcer disease
• Chronic active hepatitis
• Disease of the pancreas
Dr. Okwu, a graduate of Northwestern
University, Feinberg School of Medicine in
Chicago, Illinois, completed her residency
in Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital and
is board certified in General Pediatrics
and Pediatric Gastroenterology, as are all
physicians in the clinic. She has been with
Driscoll for the past three years.
The clinic also has a dietitian on staff, so a
patient may easily be seen for nutritional and
dietary issues.
“That is a big plus,” added Dr. Jain. “When
we see a patient in Brownsville, they are able
to be seen the same day to help figure out
the dietary needs of the patient and how to
improve there so that the impact of care can
take hold.”
“There is a lot of specialized care
available with Driscoll that is not
readily available at even the largest
Dr. Jain said at that time he was able to hold
clinic once per month while he was the only
gastroenterologist. In the last several years,
the clinic has gastroenterologists seeing
patients every week at the Driscoll Children’s
Specialty Center.
Patients they see most often will come through
referrals after visiting their family practitioner,
though it is not uncommon to see a patient for
the first time in emergent care. from the Rio Grande Valley into our neonatal or pediatric
intensive care units that we treat, who require a lot of
care, and sometimes we are following up with those
patients for many years.”
According to Dr. Syed, once the patient is
referred to them, the reputation of Driscoll
Children’s Hospital is comforting to the family. Driscoll Children’s Hospital continues expanding its care
throughout South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley, so
that more children receive more care and they do not
have to travel outside of their communities.
“I think part of the reason is the care we
provide is well known, and that someone
is always on call to answer their questions
after hours, including weekends,” said Dr.
Syed. “If the patient needs to be admitted,
then we transport them to the main campus
in Corpus Christi, taking care of them and
always following up with after care once they
return home.
SOME OF THE HEALTH
CONCERNS THE
PHYSICIANS TREAT ARE:
“We provide not only the quality of care
aspect that is so important, but the
efficiency in providing that care,” said Dr.
Okwu. “We’re very good about getting our
patients in without delay so they are not
waiting hours to see the doctor and then
reaching out with test results, and next
steps that need to be taken to extend that
necessary care.”
GASTROENTEROLOGY COMPLICATIONS
ARE COMPLEX.
“We see patients with all gastrointestinal-related problems
in our clinics,” said Dr. Jain. “These conditions can include
inflammatory bowel disease, chronic abdominal pain,
intestinal bleeding, constipation and others. We also follow
patients who are discharged from Driscoll Children’s Hospital
and need continued care.”
“The quality of care we provide is why we see
the number of patients that we do.”
With the number of symptoms and variety of ailments
Dr. Jain added, “There are also many patients connected to gastrointestinal problems, Driscoll
who are transferred from other hospitals
gastroenterologists are very experienced in their practice.
22 HEALTHY MAGAZINE
Driscoll Children’s
Hospital pediatric
gastroenterologists
Vera Okwu, MD;
Ashok Jain, MD; and
Sabeen Syed, MD, are
providing more care to
more children of the
Rio Grande Valley.
medical centers across the country, particularly and we have a process to turn difficult
with therapies that help with issues related to
situations into something much easier to
constipation,” added Dr. Syed.
handle for the pediatric patient.”
Driscoll Children’s Specialty Center –
Brownsville also has Radiology Services on
location so if the gastroenterologists need to
see why a child’s stomach or liver is swollen,
those diagnostics are readily available to help
expedite decision-making at the point of care.
Pediatric radiologists read the results
and physicians have immediate access,
throughout the entire Driscoll Health
System, to relay to parents right away.
CARING FOR CHILDREN IS
LOVE.
Dr. Jain, who completed his residency at
Saint Luke’s in Cleveland, Ohio, has always
felt there is such a need to work with
children and has done so throughout his
entire medical career.
“As we have better resources, we have
more challenges,” said Dr. Jain. “To meet
those challenges is exciting and offers
rewarding opportunities.
“You can create such a change through
pediatric medicine,” he added.
“We can help children with a wide
array of digestive health problems,
whether they are simple problems
like constipation or soiling, or
serious problems like Crohn’s
disease, ulcerative colitis, bleeding
ulcers, celiac disease and
liver diseases. Patients
with short bowel
syndrome can require
years of intravenous
nutrition. To see these
children grow is very
rewarding.”
Each Driscoll
gastroenterologist
understands that you have
to create an environment
that is comforting for the
child, and try to have fun
whenever possible, in order to
complete the process of care.
“We enjoy working with
children at Driscoll,”
said Dr. Syed. “Everyone
has pediatric experience,
everyone wants to be there
23 HEALTHY MAGAZINE
Dr. Okwu adds that she appreciates the
happiness a family shows when their child is
feeling better.
“I really enjoy working with families and little
patients,” she said. “Taking care of a child,
you’re essentially taking care of their family.
“There is no greater reward than to care for
our patients, eliminate their pain and guide
them toward living a healthier lifestyle, so
that they may live, laugh and love together,”
said Dr. Okwu.
There continues to be an increase in certain
gastroenterological conditions in children
that the Driscoll gastroenterologists see that
is concerning to them.
“We’ve seen a significant increase in the
number of cases of inflammatory bowel
disease in young children. South Texas has
an obesity epidemic that has contributed to
adult disease, however we are finding these
same problems in children such as fatty liver,
gall stones and pancreatitis,” said Dr. Jain.
Parents can take steps to help combat the
rise of obesity and gastrointestinal diseases.
“We are what we eat,” Dr. Jain added.
“Parents can adopt a healthy lifestyle for
their children eating healthy snacks, sitting
down to eat a meal together instead of eating
on the run; teaching children how to eat
slowly and mindfully.” He also recommends
avoiding sugary drinks and limiting juices.
In order to improve access to quality care,
Driscoll continues to grow throughout the
Rio Grande Valley by providing physicians
with specialties that otherwise would not be
available or difficult to come by.
“We are going to continue to expand,” said
Dr. Jain. “We want to accommodate every
child’s healthcare needs throughout the Rio
Grande Valley.”
To contact Driscoll Children’s Specialty Center –
Brownsville, call (956) 698-8600. For a consult with the
Gastroenterology Clinic, call (361) 694-6128 or visit www.
driscollchildrens.org/specialty/gastroenterology.