Neurology

Neurological conditions involve the brain and nervous system; however, they can have far-reaching impacts on your child’s life, affecting their health, behavior and mood.

When you take your child to Mary Bridge Children’s for neurology care, you are in some of the most capable hands in the region. We see thousands of patients every year, and we use that expertise to ensure the best possible outcome for your child.

Families choose Mary Bridge Children’s because we offer:

Highly qualified specialists who deliver integrated care. Our team includes board-certified pediatric neurologists and pediatric neurosurgeons, registered nurses, a social worker, a care manager, a registered dietitian and other support staff, all with years of clinical experience working with children who have neurological conditions. Our goal is to work hand in hand with you and your child’s primary care provider to help your child achieve their full potential.

Convenience and accessibility. We have several locations across the South Puget Sound area where you can access high-quality pediatric neurology care without having to travel far from home. We offer both inpatient and outpatient neurology services.

Expert, multispecialty care for children with neuromuscular disorders: Our Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) Care Affiliate Clinic at Mary Bridge Children’s offers coordinated appointments where children with confirmed neuromuscular disorders can meet with a variety of specialists in a single visit.

Comprehensive, personalized support. We provide educational recommendations and referrals to help secure services for other specialties, such as neuropsychology, speech therapy, complex primary care and applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy for autism (offered through our community partners). We are committed to enhancing your child’s quality of life and streamlining the treatment process for you as much as possible. Learn more about how we support you.

Leading-edge technology. We use advanced neurological testing technology to ensure an accurate diagnosis for your child. We also work closely with the Mary Bridge Children’s Sleep Disorders Clinic to diagnose and treat sleep problems, providing access to one of the few sleep centers in the state that conducts sleep studies in children. Learn more about neurological diagnosis and testing.

Excellence in research. In partnership with the MultiCare Institute for Research & Innovation, we offer a pediatric neurology research program. Together, we aim to bring new and evolving medical treatments to our local community. Focus areas of the program include anti-seizure medications, genetic treatment for refractory epilepsy, advanced migraine treatments, behavioral medications for children with autism and more. Data from our studies has been presented nationally and internationally, and our program has received a number of awards. Learn more about available pediatric neurology clinical trials.

We look forward to meeting you and your child. Please arrive for your appointment 20 minutes early to allow ample time for checking in and filling out necessary paperwork. Families who arrive more than 15 minutes late may have to reschedule their appointment.

The following information will help you plan for your visit.

Appointments

Bring your child and come prepared. Your child must be present for each appointment, including virtual appointments, or it will be rescheduled. Please note that most follow-up appointments are scheduled for 15-30 minutes. Consider preparing a written list of questions ahead of time so we can fully address your concerns. New patient appointments are scheduled for 60 minutes. Please allow for additional time to interact with our support team of nurses, social work and care management, should these be needed during your visit.

Bring medication, other materials. Please bring all your child’s medication bottles to each appointment. Patients who have epilepsy or experience headaches should bring seizure logs or headache diaries to each appointment.

Turn off cellphones and pagers. It’s easier for both you and the neurology specialist to focus on your child when communication devices are switched off. This also helps maintain a calm, quiet environment for all patients.

Schedule promptly; provide notice when cancelling. Please schedule follow-up appointments as soon as possible, preferably before leaving the clinic, to take advantage of optimum time slots and avoid lengthy delays. We request 48 hours’ notice if you must cancel an appointment.

Phone calls

Your child’s doctor my instruct you to call the clinic when certain situations occur, or you may want to report a seizure or medication problem. Here’s what to know about calling the neurology team between scheduled visits:

Our nurses are available. For questions or concerns regarding your child’s condition or treatment, call 253-792-6630 to speak with a neurology nurse. Our nurses are available Monday through Friday from 8am to 4pm. After the clinic closes, we do have a consulting nurse service available. Any time your concern is life-threatening, call 911 immediately.

You may need to make an appointment. If the concern or question requires a significant change in the management of your child’s condition, you will be asked to schedule an appointment to properly address the concern.

Calls are returned in order of urgency and based on the time of the request. We will return your call as soon as possible, but please allow one to two business days for us to get back to you. It’s important to keep your contact information up to date so we can promptly return your call. We encourage you to include your name with your voicemail greeting so we can leave detailed information. If your voicemail greeting only notes a generic phone number, for privacy reasons we will not be able to leave a detailed message.

For information about prescription refills, laboratory testing, or forms and documentation, please visit our Care Between Appointments page.