Patients in the Eastern Upper Peninsula admitted to the acute care division at Mackinac Straits Hospital will now be treated by dedicated "hospitalist" doctors instead of rotating general practice doctors.

What, exactly, is a hospitalist?

A major trend in medicine for the last 10 to 15 years, hospital medicine shifts away from the traditional idea of health care in a hospital being shared by visiting private practice or clinic doctors. Instead, certain physicians dedicate themselves to specializing in hospital medicine and focus on providing consistent care to all hospital patients.

This program, which takes more of a team approach than traditional methods, has begun to take root in St. Ignace with the efforts of hospital administration, board members, and doctors interested in hospital medicine.

"Some individual people helped out, pushed, and made it happen," said Dr. William Hampton, a hospitalist physician employed by Mackinac Straits Hospital.

As the group of hospitalist doctors takes over duties at the acute care branch of the hospital, general practice doctors like Dr. Carl Hawkins will have fewer responsibilities associated with inpatient hospital care, instead focusing on work in their individual offices.

Dr. Hawkins said, although he will miss being able to treat his own patients during their hospital visits, the transition is a necessary one to allow the hospital to provide a wider range of care more efficiently.

"It's kind of the trend right now," he said. "And for good reason. The day that one family doctor can do everything is over."

Dr. Donza Worden, a physician executive with the hospital, said this is a major step toward providing better continuity of care to the community.

The benefit of doctors focusing on acute inpatient care, Chief Nursing Officer Barb Davis said, is that patients and nurses will have access to the knowledge and experience of the hospitalists.

"It was a win-win situation," Mrs. Davis said. "Our current doctors can work more efficiently in their areas and we obtained the skills of these new hospital doctors."

Having a wider spectrum of 24- hour care provided by on-duty or on-call hospital doctors through this program allows people to visit the hospital locally instead of traveling or moving to another city for treatment.

"It's an opportunity to gain some knowledge and gain some experience in disease-specific conditions that normally we would ship elsewhere," Mrs. Davis said.

The improved efficiency, coupled with speciality hospital care at Mackinac Straits Hospital, will allow many more patients to be treated in St. Ignace, Dr. Worden said.

"I think with the advent of the hospitalists, I think we can keep more care in St. Ignace instead of transferring," Hospital CEO Rod Nelson said.

Both Dr. Hampton and Dr. Hawkins agreed that the complex nature of modern medicine is making specializing in certain areas increasingly necessary, owing to the growing body of knowledge doctors need to have.

"Things are more complicated than they used to be," Dr. Hampton said. "There is too much to know for doctors."

Dr. Hawkins said both office work and hospital care are becoming more complex, and doctors specializing in hospital care can provide more efficient care, while allowing the other doctors to focus on staying up to date with developments that affect their individual practices.

"It will make me more able to do office work," he said. "It's a bit of a transition. In the long run it will be a good thing."

The more intensive care hospitalists can provide helps shorten turnaround time for patients, Dr. Worden said.

Another reason to make the switch to a hospitalist program, Dr. Worden said, was to attract more private practice and clinic doctors to the hospital. Knowing they can take weekends off and have 24-hour backup at the hospital is a benefit when recruiting new doctors, he said.

Physicians covering the inpatient program at Mackinac Straits are the same as those at Northern Michigan Regional Hospital in Petoskey, hospital CEO Rod Nelson said.

Drs. Hampton and Janean Dabney, two hospitalists working at the St. Ignace hospital, will soon be joined by hospitalist Dr. Susan Hepker.

The hospitalist program will follow doctors, nurses, and other staff to the new facility on North State Street when it opens.

"Everything is gearing up before we move into the facility so we can hit the ground running," Mr. Nelson said. The facility opening is anticipated in spring 2010.