Conditions We Treat
We provide inpatient and outpatient diagnosis, treatment, education, and support for children with endocrine problems.
Endocrine conditions we treat include:
-
Adrenal disorders — congenital adrenal hyperplasia, Addison’s disease
- Calcium and vitamin D metabolism
- Diabetes, both type 1 and type 2
- Gender dysphoria
- Growth disorders
- Hyperlipidemia
- Hypoglycemia
- Hypothalamic and pituitary dysfunction
- Metabolic bone disease
- Metabolic syndrome and lipid disorders
- Premature and delayed puberty
- Sexual differentiation disorders
- Thyroid dysfunction and thyroid nodules
Our Programs
Our Programs Include:
Pediatric Diabetes Program
Our Pediatric Diabetes Program is accredited by American Association of Diabetes Educators and strives to provide provide exceptional care for children 0- 22 years old with all forms of diabetes, including:
- Type 1 diabetes
- Type 2 diabetes
- Prediabetes
- Cystic fibrosis- related diabetes (CFRD)
- Maturity onset diabetes of the young (MODY)
- Neonatal diabetes
- Steroid induced diabetes.
Pediatric Weight Management Program
The Comprehensive Pediatric Weight Management Program is a multidisciplinary program for children between two and 22 years old who are clinically obese (BMI> 95% for age). This program offers children and families resources aimed at promoting a healthy lifestyle.
Type 2 Diabetes Program
The type 2 diabetes program is a multidisciplinary program dedicated to caring for children and adolescents with type 2 diabetes. The team includes a weight management physician/pediatric endocrinologist, dietitians, certified diabetes educators, psychologists, and social workers. We see patients every 3 months for treatment. We also manage other associated conditions our patients have in addition to diabetes (these are called comorbitities), including liver and kidney disease, high cholesterol, and hypertension.
Prediabetes Program
In our prediabetes program we emphasize dietary changes to treat kids who are high risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Our goal is to catch patients ahead of time, offering treatments to reverse the course of prediabetes.
Patients meet with a dietitian every 2-4 weeks (as opposed to around 8 weeks in regular weight management program) and visit with a pediatric endocrinologist every 3 months.
Pediatric Cancer Survivorship Program
The pediatric endocrinology team works together with the pediatric cancer care team to provide education and care for your child's cancer diagnosis. We monitor for side effects and track of your child's growth and development after cancer treatment.
Pediatric Gender Program
In Baystate's Pediatric Gender Program, endocrinologists and behavioral health specialists work together to offer compassionate care for gender diverse adolescents. Depending on your child's needs, we offer medication treatment and cross sex hormone therapy.
Patients are eligible for treatment in this program:
- Once they have reached stage 2 of puberty
- After they have met with a therapist who specializes in gender dysphoria for 6 months
- After the therapist and psychologist have written a letter of support confirming the diagnosis of gender dysphoria and recommended treatment
More on transgender care and resources at Baystate Health.
How to Contact Us
Our normal office hours are 8 am to 5 pm Monday through Friday. Our team is available to address your questions 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
If you are asked to contact a provider outside of clinic times, you may do so by calling 413-794-KIDS (5437). This is common the first couple of days after diagnosis to address questions, review blood sugars, and consider insulin adjustments. If you do not hear back from the on-call physician within 20 minutes, please call back.
Newly diagnosed patients will be in contact with our team daily for the first one to two weeks.
Patient Portal
To access your child’s health information, message the care team, and request appointments and prescription refills, please sign up for the MyBaystate patient portal.
You can visit mybaystatehealth.org or download the free MyBaystate app on your cell phone.
To sign up, create your own (not your child) username and password. If you are a Baystate patient yourself, follow the prompts to fill out a proxy form for your child. If you are not a Baystate patient, create your account and send back the attached proxy. Please note that access is limited for patients between the ages of 13-18.
For patient portal support, call 413-322-4357 or email MyBaystate@baystatehealth.org.
Diabetes and Endocrine Emergencies
If you have an emergency that cannot and/or should not wait, go to the emergency room or call 911.
If you are not sure whether you need to go to the hospital, please call us:
-
During clinic hours (8 am – 5 pm) call 413-794-5437 and ask to page your pediatric diabetes nurse educator.
- During evenings or weekends, call 413-794-5437 and ask to page the pediatric endocrinologist on call. If you have any questions after hours in the first few days after diagnosis, please use this number.
Examples of diabetes emergencies:
-
Severe hypoglycemia
- Hyperglycemia with moderate or large ketones
- Vomiting child, unsure of insulin doses
- A crisis for which you need our immediate help or guidance
Examples of endocrine emergencies:
- Your child with a diagnosis of adrenal insufficiency (Addison’s disease, hypopituitarism, congenital adrenal hyperplasia) develops fever or vomiting
- Call our answering service at 413-794-5437 and ask to page a pediatric endocrinologist on call.
- If your child is unresponsive or has a serious medical emergency, call 911 or take your child to an emergency room.
Blood Sugar Review for Diabetes Patients
To contact us to review blood sugar numbers, you have three options:
- Call our answering service at 413-794-5437. Leave a message that you would like to review blood sugar numbers and a nurse will call you back.
- Email us
- Fax to 413-794-7145
A nurse educator (or fellow with supervision) will review your blood sugars and we will call you back by the end of the day.
Prescription Refills
You can request prescription refills through the MyBaystate patient portal. Prescriptions will be sent to your preferred pharmacy. Please allow up to 48 hours to process refill requests. Please manage your supplies carefully as refill requests should not be made at night or on the weekends.
Virtual Diabetes Appointments
How to prepare
Diabetes visits rely heavily on information from pump and sensor downloads. This enables the care team to provide you with any necessary insulin regimen changes.
Please download one day before your appointment so that our clinical staff will be best prepared for your appointment. It is also important that you take the time to review your device downloads prior to the scheduled appointment. This will allow you to be more involved in your care.
If you are unable to download your meter, write down two weeks of blood sugars, take a picture of the log, and upload to the portal.
Downloading instructions
Visit the websites below for instructions on downloading your pump, CGM, or InPen.
Dexcom clarity
1-877-339-2664
If you use a phone as your receiver: Our team can email an invitation to share your child's Dexcom reports so we can access them. Please accept the invitation.
Freestyle Libre Flash CGM
1-855-786-4263
Medtronic carelink (pdf)
1-800-646-4633
To link to our clinic, call our office or go onto the portal to provide us with your carelink account username and password.
Tandem
1-877-801-6901
Omnipod
1-800-206-6601
To link to the clinic, please use code baystatepeds when prompted.
Omnipod DASH
InPen
For help call 844-843-7903
Refer to your InPen app