Valley Parenting : A Prescription for Convenience : Program at Northridge Hospital Medical Center caters to mildly ill kids with working guardians.

At the tender age of 3, Brittany Scott, an angel-faced blond moppet, has al ready been in and out of Northridge Hospital Medical Center at least a dozen times.

The little girl--who usually suffers from nothing more than the sniffles or slight flu bug--looks forward to her frequent hospital stays.

Brittany--along with her older sister, Kelsey, 7--is a regular at Kids Care, Northridge Hospital’s program for mildly ill or injured children. The program is a boon for working parents, who otherwise would have to stay home when their child is too sick to attend day care or school. About 1,500 children are preregistered in the 5-year-old program. (Preregistration is advised as a means of streamlining the admissions process.)

“I trust my children here because it is a hospital, it is really clean, and the staff is good with kids,” said Brittany’s mother, Linda Scott, a Sunland appraiser, as she dropped her daughter off. The little girl immediately headed for a kid-sized table covered with markers, crayons and drawing paper.

Before Scott left to begin her workday, Brittany, who had donned a floppy denim hat, ran to her mom clutching the picture she had just completed. Scott bestowed lavish praise on the work of art; mother and daughter kissed and hugged goodby, and Brittany happily returned to her crayons.

Like Brittany, most children at Kids Care have colds, flu or ear infections, according to Bonnie Nowaczyk, one of the program’s pediatric health assistants. Nowaczyk adds that youngsters with strep throat or pinkeye must have been on antibiotics for the past 24 hours to qualify for admission, and those suffering from chickenpox, measles, mumps, hepatitis, head lice or other communicable conditions are ineligible.

Children are cared for by nursing assistants and child development specialists at a ratio of one adult for every three infants. The ratios are one-to-five for youngsters ages 2 through 5 and one-to-seven for ages 7 and up. Only 15 children total can be accommodated, so parents should call ahead on the program’s 24-hour line to reserve a spot.

Under-the-weather tots spend most of their day in a playroom stocked with Nintendo games, children’s videos, arts and crafts supplies and numerous toys. A separate “quiet room” is lined with cots and cribs.

“We encourage parents to bring a child’s special blanket, stuffed animal or favorite teddy bear,” Nowaczyk said. “But sometimes the children just want to be held all day--so that’s what we do.”

Each child’s progress is closely monitored. A physician checks them in the morning, and the staff records their activities, food and liquid intake, and any symptoms they exhibit. Temperatures are taken three times a day, and parents are notified if a child takes a turn for the worse.

To prevent children from picking up colds or flu from each other, playthings are sterilized daily. Infants, who are likely to put items in their mouths, do not share toys. Frequent hand-washing--at a kid-sized sink operated by foot pedals--is also practiced for infection control, Nowaczyk said. “Every time the children sneeze, cough or blow their nose, we wash their hands.”

When possible, children with different ailments are separated from each other, according to program coordinator Dana Lush. “But we don’t usually have a huge mix of things,” she said. “I know what is going around in the schools, because they usually all come down with the same thing and that is what we have here.”

Studio City parent Roger Ishihara was initially worried that his son, Clark, 8, might be exposed to new viruses. “But most of the time the kids appear to have what Clark has ...,” he said. “He never picked up anything that he didn’t go in with.”

Ishihara estimates that Clark has spent up to 50 days in the program over the past four years.

“He loves going there,” Ishihara said. “He makes friends, plays with Legos, plays Nintendo. If he has a sore throat or doesn’t feel right, he packs his bags and is raring to go.”

In fact, according to Lush, sometimes the program is too much fun. “Lots of times the little ones cry when they have to go home,” she said. “And the older kids fake sick because they would rather be here than in school.”

WHERE AND WHEN

What: Kids Care, a day-care program for ill children, 6 weeks to 15 years old.

Location: The pediatric department at Northridge Hospital Medical Center, 18300 Roscoe Blvd.

Hours: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. Closed holidays.

Price: $4.50 per hour. Hot lunch is an additional $1.50, or children may bring a meal from home.

Call: (818) 885-5324. Preregistration is strongly encouraged.