Partners 4Kids has grand opening on Tortola

PRESS RELEASE: The Virgin Islands’ Pediatric and Adolescent Healthcare Center has expanded to meet the needs of its BVI patients and families by establishing a satellite office in Road Town, Tortola.

Just minutes away from Wickham’s Cay, Tortola Pier Park, and Peebles Hospital, this state-of-the art medical center is completely child-focused with playful colors, soft music, and a qualified team of professionals committed to providing comprehensive medical care for children ages 0-18.

Partners 4Kids is the place to go for the care of your little ones and not so little ones.

“Our children are not little adults, but rather little people that require a warm welcoming, child-friendly environment, a gentle touch, and of course lots of patience”, said Dr Cecilia Penn, co-owner and founder of Partners 4Kids with her husband, Averad Penn.

Partners 4Kids opened its doors in June of 2013 in St Thomas “out of a need to provide a different approach to pediatric care”.

Partnerships in healthcare begin with more than just the patient. “While children are the center of our focus, they do not exist in isolation,” Dr Penn added.

She spoke of the need to not only partner with parents and grandparents, but also places that have an impact on the nurturing and engagement of children, including schools, churches, and daycare facilities.

Furthermore, as the community rallies around our children, we must also include coordination of allied health professions such as “physical and occupational therapy, clinical psychology, speech therapy, lactation consultants, and pediatric sub-specialists to ensure that the whole child is assessed and treated”.

This emphasis on collaboration will help to reduce the fragmentation often seen in healthcare especially for children.

Since opening in June 2013, Partners 4Kids has grown to now service more than four thousand patients from the United States and British Virgin Islands. The establishment of a BVI office will greatly alleviate the strain many families experience by taking a whole day to travel back and forth to St Thomas for pediatric care.

Partners 4Kids and Dr Penn have already won the annual Virgin Islands Daily News ‘Best of VI’ for Best Pediatric Care in the United States Virgin Islands three times, and look forward to bringing the same standard of care to British Virgin Islands.

Partners 4Kids will provide primary care, developmental assessments, hearing/vision screens, ADD/ADHD evaluation, autism screening, management of acute and chronic conditions, immunizations, minor surgical procedures, physical and occupational therapy, as well as parenting classes.

Dr Penn thanked all those who came to support and celebrate the opening of Partners 4Kids. She also thanked key individuals and organisations who allowed them the opportunity to become BVI licensed providers and credentialed to service BVI families including the Minister of Health and Social Development, Honorable Ronnie Skelton, National Health Insurance Programme, among others.

Many other entities and individuals contributed to the success of the organization thus far, especially her husband and co-founder, who has been instrumental and ever so supportive of this venture.