Pediatric options are growing in the Cape Fear Region along with the number of children the practices serve.
 
Hoke Pollock, who has been in pediatric practice in Wilmington since 2005, recently opened a solo practice called Hanover Pediatrics. It’s located near New Hanover Regional Medical Center, at 1904 Tradd Court.
 
Pollock “offers patients and their families over a decade of pediatric medicine expertise in the Cape Fear area, with special interests in early infant and child development and the coordination of complex medical diagnoses,” according to a news release.
 
“From newborns to young adults visiting home during the college years, I founded Hanover Pediatrics with a focus on both comprehensive and preventative care,” Pollock said. “I am hoping to reconnect with patients I’ve treated in the past as well as to develop personalized care plans with area parents and caregivers looking for a pediatric care team that really takes the time to listen, help and, when necessary, heal.”
 
Pollock previously was in general practice with Cape Fear Pediatrics.
 
He said opening a solo practice helps him to forge closer bonds with his patients.
 
“While there appears to be a continued demand for pediatric services in the area, my leaving doesn’t really add to this, since I was already in general practice. Rather, I was more interested in providing a personalized, smaller-scale experience for pediatric patients and their families,” Pollock said.
 
He said that over the past 10 years, the general trend of medicine has been toward consolidation.
 
“Pediatrics is no exception. I felt as if each time I was moved toward a larger framework of practice I lost a connection to my patients. Being a large entity can be good economically, but often sacrifices elements of individualized care which I value,” Pollock said.
 
This summer, New Hanover Regional Medical Center expanded its pediatric specialty services when it moved the hospital’s Nunnelee clinic to the Autumn Hall development and more than doubled the space.
 
Nunnelee Pediatric Specialty Clinics officials have said their volume went from about 5,000 patient visits a year in the past to a current average of about 27,000 annual patient visits.
 
The clinics added two pediatric surgeons this summer.
 
The Cape Fear Clinic, 1605 Doctor’s Circle, also is expected to make a formal announcement about pediatric services by early 2018.
 
Population-wise, demographics in local counties show the population of young people under 18 years old is growing.
 
Estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau for New Hanover County show a population of 42,418 youths under age 18 in 2016, compared to 40,824 in 2011.
 
Brunswick County figures show an under-18 population of 20,588 in 2016 compared to 20,277 in 2011.
 
In Pender County, there were 13,141 under 18 in 2016, compared to 11,964 in 2011.