How Our Hospitalist Physicians Help You
A Collaborative Team Approach to Patient Care
Overseeing your care
While you are a patient at Pen Bay Medical Center, your care may be overseen by a hospitalist − a doctor who is at the hospital full time and who will collaborate with your primary care physician to care for you during your hospital stay.
We know that you may have some questions about these physicians you may be meeting for the first time, so we have put together this brochure.
What is a hospitalist?
A hospitalist is a physician who specializes in caring for patients in the hospital and who usually does not have an outpatient medical practice. Our hospitalists are internal medicine and family practice physicians.
Our Special Care Unit continues to be staffed by critical care specialists who are pulmonologists. While you are there, you may also be seen by other specialists, such as a cardiologist or orthopedist.
When will I see my primary care physician?
During your hospital stay, you will be seen by a hospitalist. You will see your regular physician soon after discharge from the hospital.
What benefits can a hospitalist
provide me and my primary care physician?
Hospitalists keep a close eye on you.
In case of emergency, your hospitalist is never very far. That's because they work in the hospital and will see you more than once a day, if needed.
Your hospitalist knows every specialist and department in the hospital. Hospitalists assist you through a smooth and speedy recovery process by following up on tests and adjusting your treatment regimen throughout the day based on those test results.
Hospitalists answer your family's questions.
Hospitalists are here to provide the answers in person whenever possible. During critical and stressful moments, they provide honest and considerate answers to your questions.
Since hospitalists are at the hospital full time, they are able to spend more time talking to you and your family about your care. There is no time more important to communicate about your care than when you might be critically ill.
Hospitalists help your primary care doctor
be more available to you.
Because hospitalists are in the hospital all day, your doctor can be with you in the office with fewer delays and interruptions. Your primary care doctor will be able to devote more time keeping you and your family healthy.
For many patients and physicians, working with a hospitalist team is a win-win proposition. Using a hospitalist team enables your primary care physician to be more available to you in the office and enables the hospitalist to be more available to care for you when you are at your sickest.
Your primary care doctor may admit you to the hospital at night or on weekends as part of our plan for 24-hour coverage of your care.
How does the hospitalist know about me?
Hospitalists talk to your primary care physician on frequently. At the time of your admission to the hospital, your primary care physician calls the hospitalist to discuss your condition and provides records and additional information.
The process is similar to what your physician does when he or she refers you to a specialist for another opinion or for additional tests and treatment.
During the course of your hospitalization, your hospitalist and primary care physician may talk further regarding your treatment.
At discharge, your hospitalist will communicate with your primary care physician to discuss your further treatment needs, help arrange follow-up, prescribe necessary medications, and send your hospital records to your doctor's office.
We're here to help you get better.
In order to speak with your hospitalist, ask your nurse to page him or her.
We look forward to discussing your medical care with you and your family. Working collaboratively with your primary care physician, nurse practitioners, nurses, the hospital's skilled technologists, and staff, we hope to have you feeling better and back at home soon.
Full-Time Hospitalists at PBMC
Elizabeth Boogusch, MD
Board Certified in Internal Medicine
Carol Reynolds, MD
Board Certified in Family Practice
William Master, MD
Board Certified in Internal Medicine
Andrew Lackoff, MD
Board Certified in Family Practice
Kevin Davey, MD
Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics
Maureen McLaughlin-Grant, MD
Board Certified in Internal Medicine
There are several other physicians you may meet who provide occasional coverage for the hospitalist service.
Updated: 2013-04-16