Any Richmond mom will tell you that there’s something special about those who choose to become a pediatrician—a field where the patients may be smaller in size, but the need to deliver compassionate care is quite large. In fact, at Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital, there are pediatricians who specialize in over 20 different types of care, from neurology to pulmonology. And it’s not uncommon for them to view themselves as serving both children and parents.
These doctors are extra-special, spending their days (and often nights and weekends, too) helping kids get healthy and doing their best to reduce the worries that caring parents naturally have.
Being a pediatric specialist is about more than providing expert clinical care for children.
It also includes a bedside manner that calms and comforts the youngest among us, along with a communication style for parents that informs and reassures. This is immediately clear when observing the doctors at St. Mary’s Hospital, from experts in pediatric endocrinology to pediatric sleep medicine, and everything in between.
One example? A specialist in pediatric gastroenterology, Dr. Carl B. Rountree, who is fluent in Spanish as well as English, cures the butterflies in parents’ stomachs as well as treating the ills of his patients. After receiving his medical degree from the University of Texas School of Medicine, Dr. Rountree completed his pediatric residency and pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition fellowship at the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
Among his areas of expertise is a commitment to combatting Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis in children, which the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation estimates impacts more than 300,000 young lives every year. Currently, the causes of Crohn’s disease and colitis are unknown, making all the more crucial the need for clear communication with parents and kids about how to best manage the condition. Dr. Rountree directs his patients and their parents on the latest medications, antibiotics and long-term changes to a child’s diet, which can help all of them feel better. Working alongside nurses, nutritionists and social workers, his team has achieved a high remission rate.
One of Dr. Rountree’s colleagues at Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital is Dr. Winslow Borkowski, Jr. Specializing in pediatric neurology, Dr. Borkowski also helps put parents’ minds at ease.
Following his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Borkowski received his medical degree from the Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, earning a fellowship in pediatric neurology, along with a later fellowship in electroencephalography from the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
Among Dr. Borkowski’s clinical interests is the continued study of epilepsy, with a focus on treating children who experience refractory seizures. This treatment is often administered through a technique known as vagal nerve stimulation, or VNS therapy, which sends regular electrical pulses through the vagal nerve, using an implanted device that functions in a manner that’s similar to a pacemaker. Explaining the treatment options to parents without advanced degrees in children’s neurology takes a combination of precise description and expectation management—two areas in which Dr. Borkowski is also an expert.
Dr. Borkowski and Dr. Rountree are just two examples of the expertise parents can expect to find at Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital, known throughout Richmond for its full complement of pediatric specialists and subspecialists.
Working in neurology, cleft and craniofacial care, diabetes, gastroenterology, pulmonary diseases, urology, and many other specialties, these doctors make clear that their particular skill is caring for kids in a way that makes the whole family feel better.
For an appointment with Dr. Rountree or Dr. Borkowski—or with one of the other pediatric specialists at St. Mary’s Hospital—please call (804) 281-8303.
About Bon Secours:
As one of Richmond’s largest employers, the not-for-profit health system employs more than 9,000 people, including nearly 420 providers as part of the Bon Secours Medical Group. Bon Secours Richmond includes St. Mary’s Hospital, Memorial Regional Medical Center, Richmond Community Hospital, St. Francis Medical Center, Rappahannock General Hospital and Westchester Emergency Center. The Bon Secours Richmond Health Care Foundation raises charitable funds to help Bon Secours Virginia Health System address the community’s growing health care needs with compassion and excellence.
