Pediatric Excellence Awards Received By Three SMCS Health Centers 
Posted on 4/9/2010

Glenn Cordner, CEO, Springfield Medical Care Systems congratulates Eliot Hall, MD, and Cindy Hayes, LPN, of Rockingham Medical Group.

SPRINGFIELD, VT — Pediatric Excellence Awards were recently awarded to three Springfield Medical Care Systems' (SMCS) health centers for exceeding state and national averages for pediatric vaccination performance.

Three of the four statewide awards were given to SMCS health center practices, which are being recognized for the quality of their children's immunization programs. The practices receiving these awards include Dr. Eliot Hall’s pediatric practice at Rockingham Medical Group, Bellows Falls, VT, for achieving 98%; Pediatric Network, Springfield, VT for achieving 92%; and Family Medicine Associates, Springfield, VT for achieving 89% for recorded vaccines completed by the time their patients reach age two.
 
"The SMCS health centers' immunization efforts, and the resulting positive outcomes, demonstrate the significant role prevention plays in keeping children healthy," reports Christine Finley, Immunization Program Chief of the Vermont Department of Health. She continues, "These scores are well above the national average of 80%, and two of the three exceed the State of Vermont goal of 90%. We congratulate everyone involved, and wish to emphasize the importance of their achievement in disease prevention efforts," continues Finley.
 
Dr. Elliot Hall, the Pediatrician at Rockingham Medical Group, reports that children in Vermont receive 16 injections before they reach age two. They also receive flu vaccines and two oral vaccines as part of their routine immunization schedule. "Immunization is really key in pediatric disease prevention," continues Dr. Hall. "Serious and perhaps permanent harm can occur as complications of most of these diseases. The vaccine effectiveness and tolerability is excellent for all of these vaccines, and very few children experience any serious negative consequence from the vaccines," he adds.
 
Dr. Hall attributes their positive results to effective teamwork in his office and diligent attention to details, each and every day. He emphasizes that a great deal of credit for this accomplishment should go to his co-workers, Cindy Hayes, LPN, and Kitty Kmiec.
 
Dr. Hall also reports that SMCS participates in the State vaccine registry, utilizes electronic medical records, and works very hard at keeping complete patient records. "Our policy of updating vaccinations, during any visit in which our patient is  not showing any signs of serious illness, is an essential step to keeping children healthy," concludes Dr. Hall. 
 
Springfield Medical Care Systems is a not-for-profit community-based health care system that includes a nine-site local community health center network and Springfield Hospital.  For more information, please visit www.springfieldmed.org.
 

 
Vanessa and Tristan Perry of Bellows Falls, VT, visit Dr. Eliot Hall's pediatric practice at Rockingham Medical Group, Bellows Falls, VT.