Just a spoonful of sugar — and Skywalk Pharmacy — helps the medicine go down

At Children’s Wisconsin, we are 100 percent focused on the well-being and health of children. Kids are not little adults — our doctors and nurses are pediatric certified, meaning they have years of special training to know how to best care for their little, growing bodies. 

Pediatric training is important. It allows our providers to do things like reduce unnecessary tests and doctor visits, and fix a broken bone that is still growing. It also means they can provide medication in a safe and appropriate way. 

Pediatric training in medicine 

While it’s important that all of our doctors and nurses are experts on kids, it’s just as important that our pharmacists are experts, too. Many of our patients need medicine in order for them to heal after a surgery or a fall from the monkey bars, but giving kids medicine isn’t as easy as one might think. Their bodies can react much differently to medications than an adult’s body since kids are still growing and developing. 

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Did you know that almost 80 percent of medications don’t come with recommendations for kids? This leaves the dosage unclear for their growing bodies and adult doctors might not always know what is best for kids. Just because they are smaller in size doesn’t always mean they need less medication than an adult would. Pharmacists need to be specially trained in order to safely dispense medication to kids correctly and confidently. They use factors such as age, weight, metabolism, condition and allergies to determine the right dosage, tailoring each prescription specifically for each patient.

Skywalk Pharmacy 

Skywalk Pharmacy is Children’s Wisconsin’s full service pediatric retail pharmacy. They provide services for our children ranging from routine prescriptions to compounded medications that are made specifically for a particular patient. 

Here are some fun facts about Skywalk Pharmacy and their dedication to the health and well-being of kids:

• Skywalk Pharmacy offers bedside delivery of medications for patients when they are discharged from the hospital ensuring patients have their medications before going home.
  
  
• Skywalk Pharmacy offers free home delivery for monthly medication needs. In response to COVID-19, they are also temporarily offering curbside pickup at the Milwaukee hospital.
  
  
• Skywalk Pharmacy compounds medications to make tablets into liquids kids can take and for those patients with other unique needs. The pharmacy technicians and pharmacists have specialized training to prepare these types of medications.
  
  
• Many of our patients will need medication for the rest of their lives, and Skywalk Pharmacy can service them forever, even when they are adults. They provide health coaches who work with families, talk about the medications their child needs on a monthly basis, and set up a pick up or free home delivery.
  
  
• The Skywalk Pharmacy also sells over-the-counter items for kids. They work closely with Children’s Wisconsin providers to get recommendations on what to offer patients.
  
  
• Our pharmacists know that taking medicine is not always a fun task for many children. They offer a variety of flavors to make it taste as good as possible for our young patients. They also have suggestions on how to transition your child from liquid to pill taking.
  
  
• Skywalk Pharmacy has three locations:
  • Milwaukee: (414) 266-1893, M-F 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Sat 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
  • West Allis: (414) 337-3333,  M-F 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
  • New Berlin: (262) 432-7613, M-F 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Kara Boghossian, PharmD Operations Manager Skywalk Pharmacy

Children’s Wisconsin is the region’s only independent health care system dedicated solely to the health and well-being of children. At Children’s Wisconsin, we know kids aren’t just little adults and we tailor care specifically for the unique needs of a small, growing body.