What Jessica Top, MD, loves most about taking care of sick kids in the hospital is not when they’re sick. It’s that turnaround moment when they’re better, and brightness comes back to their eyes.
“Kids are amazing; they’re so resilient. They can be on oxygen and needing lots of care one day, and up and running around the playroom the next,” said Top, a pediatric hospitalist at Avera McKennan Hospital & University Health Center.
A Global Journey
Top grew up in Sioux Falls and went to medical school at the University of South Dakota. After medical school, she had a formative experience through a global health fellowship, both in Gujarat, India, and at an Indian Health Service hospital at Fort Defiance, Ariz.
A global health fellowship is focused on addressing the social determinants of health and providing sustainable culturally sensitive care. “If you don’t have access to the same level of resources and technology, you learn to take care of your patients the best you can, and that was eye opening.”
She worked as a neonatal and pediatric hospitalist in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Roanoke, Va. After meeting her husband, the couple settled back in Top’s home town of Sioux Falls. She was hired as the first pediatric hospitalist at Avera McKennan, and helped launch the program that now has a team of physicians for 24/7 coverage of pediatric hospital care. Previously, around-the-clock hospital care was provided by on-call pediatricians and locum specialists.
Growth of Avera Pediatric Specialty Care
Top, who joined Avera in 2022, has watched Avera’s pediatric specialty care grow in depth and breadth.
“Having a full cadre of pediatric specialists and 24/7 coverage by hospitalists allows us to provide consistent and streamlined care. So just like our adult patients have access to hospitalist care throughout their hospital stay, children do too,” Top said.
Illnesses like bronchiolitis, pneumonia, asthma exacerbations, gastroenteritis, osteomyelitis, and surgical cases including orthopedic surgeries are among conditions that lead to inpatient hospital stays for children. “There are also medically complex kids who were born with neuromuscular conditions such as cerebral palsy,” Top said.
When children are sick, it pulls on the heartstrings because they so innocent and vulnerable. “I like being able to step in and help them. I like the diagnostic challenge. You come in and may not always know what quite is going on, but as you dig into the story, diagnose and figure out a helpful course of treatment, it’s really rewarding.”
Top appreciates the support of multiple specialists, from cardiology to critical care, gastroenterology, rheumatology, pulmonology, nephrology, neurology and more. “In my role, specialty backup is essential, and having that full complement of pediatric specialties is extremely valuable.”
As Avera builds a new Women’s and Children’s tower at Avera McKennan, Top says this new building will house the deep bench of expertise that’s already in place for children’s care. “What Avera already has to offer in pediatric care is something that everyone may not be aware of. There’s been strong and steady growth to build up the range of specialty care available for children.”
