Sustainable Benefits of a Community Hospital-Based Paediatric Asthma Clinic.

In 2011, we reported that our paediatric asthma clinic (PAC) appeared to significantly reduce the burden of paediatric asthma in our community. Supported by these results, the PAC underwent a gradual threefold expansion while maintaining the same model of care. We now report on the outcome of that expansion and demonstrate that our PAC continues to significantly reduce the burden of paediatric asthma in our community. As previously, newly enrolled PAC patients continue to show a 12-month reduction in asthma-related emergency department (ED) visits and admissions exceeding 60% and 80%, respectively. This consistent short-term benefit, coupled with clinic expansion, has contributed to a significant improvement in our rate of paediatric asthma-related ED visits or hospitalizations when compared to other Ontario hospitals.