Provider Referrals
Provider Referrals to Kartini Clinic
If you are a rendering provider and have questions, would like a consult to rule out an eating disorder or have a general medical concern related to a patient with an eating disorder, please call 503.249.8851 Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM and ask to speak to one of our physicians. Please be sure to clearly identify yourself as a provider.
Emergency calls from physicians outside of normal business hours are re-routed to our doctor on call via the main line 503-249-8851. Please be sure to clearly identify yourself as a provider.
If for some reason our physicians cannot come to the phone, they will return your call the same business day. Please take a moment to review our hospitalization criteria for anorexia, based on AAP guidelines. Please note: direct calls from patients or their families outside of normal clinic hours will not be routed to the doctors. If you are a Kartini patient and are experiencing a medical emergency, please dial 911 immediately.
Kartini Clinic currently has five levels of care. Each level is designed to lead to the next, lower level of care; combined, these four levels of care are designed to complement each other and support lasting recovery.
How Long Does Treatment Take?
An average length of an Inpatient stay is around 7 to 10 days; the Partial Hospitalization (PHP) level of care is designed as an 8 week program, but actual length of stay depends on individual circumstances. Intensive Outpatient (IOP) can vary highly and also be dependent on success at Inpatient and/or Partial levels of care. Outpatient follow up is highly individualized. Most patients can be swiftly and effectively returned to their community providers when their metabolic labs have stabilized, with a plan in hand for continued ordered eating at home.
Some patients may need a longer period of follow-up to achieve this, however, and decisions in this regard are made in collaboration with the family.
However, several factors can contribute to an average length of treatment (and this is not an exhaustive list):
Age of the child
How long a child has been ill
Severity of symptoms
If a child is medically unstable
Age of patient matters because if left untreated an illness such as anorexia can develop into a chronic condition including irreversible physiological damage to vital organs, cognitive functioning, and bone health. In other words the earlier the (effective) intervention the better.
Related to the age of a patient is the length of time they have been ill. The longer a child has been ill the longer effective (i.e. intensive) treatment is likely to take.
Like all biological illnesses some cases of anorexia, bulimia, or food phobia are more severe than others, due to such factors as an individual’s genetic predisposition, random variations in human biology, environmental circumstances as well as just plain bad luck. The more severe the case, the longer intensive treatment will likely be required.
If a child is medically unstable this will necessarily add to the required length of treatment.
Determining Ideal Body Weight
Determining “ideal” body weight in children who suffer from anorexia nervosa is complex. Pediatric patients should not be treated like “little adults”. An example is the way medication is dosed in childhood. The right dose of an antibiotic for a newborn is different than the right dose for a two year old or for a 14 year old. And so it is for setting “weight goals” in pediatric eating disorder patients.
Childhood Development
A true discussion of goal weights cannot be separated from knowledge of a child’s developmental stage. Have they gone through puberty? If so, is puberty complete? Has breast development begun (if a girl)? Has she ever had a period?
Children, like adults, will fall along some kind of a bell curve of normal weights: the vast majority will be in the average range with some being in the “obese” range and some being in the “growth-stunted” range where the eating disorder struck at a very young age causing stunting of both height and weight (and probably brain growth). I will address these groups below:
For a more in-depth discussion on how to determine “ideal” body weight in context of a suspected eating disorder, please read this.
Contact us by phone:
Intake: (971) 319-6800
General Inquiries: (503) 249-8851
Fax: (503) 282-3409
To email us:
Intake: intake@kartiniclinic.com
General Inquiries: help@kartiniclinic.com
To find us:
3530 N Vancouver, Suite 400
Portland, Oregon 97227
Mon – Fri 9:00am – 5:00pm
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