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Upstate to offer Medical Toxicology consult service July 1

Upstate downtown at night

SYRACUSE, N.Y.-- Upstate University Hospital is adding a Medical Toxicology Consultation service for patients July 1. Upstate is the first and only healthcare facility in the region to offer this service that is available through the Department of Emergency Medicine, in cooperation with the Upstate New York Poison Center.

The service will allow physicians and pharmacists with advanced toxicology training to be available for emergent cases immediately, upon request, to help in the diagnosis and evaluation of patients who experience a poison and/or toxic exposure.

“Our Medical Toxicology Consultation service will improve patients’ overall care and efficiency in medical management,” said toxicologist Ross Sullivan, M.D., director of Upstate’s Medical Toxicology Consultation Service and assistant professor of emergency medicine at Upstate. “We are able to see these patients at their bedside immediately rather than evaluate them the next day. Studies show that this type of service results in decreased ICU stays and shorter hospital stays for the patient. It is also cost effective in that the patient needs fewer healthcare resources.”

Joining Sullivan in the consultation service are medical toxicologists Michael Hodgman, M.D., and Michael Holland, M.D.; clinical toxicologists Christine Stork, Pharm.D., D.A.B.A.T., and Jeanna Marraffa, Pharm.D., D.A.B.A.T.; clinical toxicology fellow Robert Seabury, Pharm.D.; and medical toxicology fellow Nicholas Nacca, M.D. The toxicologists are available for consultations upon request Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. After hours and weekend consults are provided by the clinical and medical toxicology fellows and residents.

In addition, the Medical Toxicology Consultation service will offer an outpatient clinic Tuesdays, beginning July 2. Located in the Hyperbaric Suite at Upstate’s Downtown Campus, the clinic will see patients for follow-up visits as well as others who are referred by their physician for evaluation of poisoning and other adverse health effects due to medications, occupational and environmental toxins and biological agents.

The American Board of Medical Specialties officially recognizes medical toxicology as a medical subspecialty. Medical toxicologists are involved in the comprehensive high-level care of patients who have overdosed, had adverse drug reactions, or have poisoning or exposures to occupational or environmental chemicals.

To reach the Medical Toxicology Consultation service and its outpatient clinic, call the Upstate New York Poison Center at 315-476-4766 or 315-464-5369.

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