what does equipoise mean?
Equipoise is a central concept of ethics in clinical research. This concept maintains that you cannot truly know the outcome of the research until it’s completed; therefore the researcher must balance hope with humility, aspiration with uncertainty. You expect improved outcomes with the new intervention (which is why you’re doing the clinical trial in the first place!), but you do not actually know if it will be safe or effective until the research is complete - which is why a trial is necessary, and you cannot just skip ahead to declaring a new standard without that data.
Likewise, Equipoise Healthcare strives to balance hope with humility, aspiration with uncertainty, and we strive to balance the needs of patients, healthcare workers, and institutions as valid parts of a whole system.
what can you expect from equipoise healthcare?
Equipoise Healthcare offers medical care in the following pediatric specialties:
- Hematology (blood disorders)
- Oncology (cancer)
- Palliative care (complex symptom management and end-of-life care)
We also partner with many pediatric specialists in Kansas, as well as specialists and centers across the nation.
Many of these can be found in our Helpful Links section.
Equipoise Healthcare also offers a service to help patients find, navigate, and be supported in clinical trials. For more information about this service, please see our Clinical Research page.
What you can expect at your visits here is that your appointment is not only with the physician, but with the whole team. From the administrative personnel who communicate with your insurance, to the assistant who checks vital signs, to the physician who is overseeing your care, and all the other staff in between, we work as a team. This means when you call with a question, everyone on your team knows who you are. This means that your appointments are more thorough. This means that we are looking out for you and your child, together.
What you can expect at your visits here is a careful review of your health history and proactive management. Because an ounce of prevention truly is worth a pound of cure, we constantly look for ways to improve our preventive care.
What you can expect at your visits here is that your child and family are treated like human beings rather than a disease.
"To study the phenomenon of disease without books is to sail an uncharted sea, while to study books without patients is not to go to sea at all. "
– Sir William Osler, “Books and Men”, Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, 1901.
meet our team
hello, my name is dr. stauffer
I am a board-certified general pediatrician and pediatric hematologist and oncologist.
I founded Equipoise Healthcare because I have a vision for transforming the way medical care is delivered and empowering research towards better therapies.
Dr. Elisa Stauffer attended medical school at the University of Oklahoma. She completed her residency in general pediatrics in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She practiced general pediatrics at the University of Oklahoma for two years before choosing to specialize in treating children with blood disorders and cancer. She then moved to New York, where she completed her fellowship training at Cohen Children’s Medical Center in pediatric hematology, oncology, and stem cell transplant. While there, she also participated in a research program for translational research at the Feinstein Institute of Medical Research. Dr. Stauffer’s research involved examining the conditions under which lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell, live and develop, and how that might be linked to leukemia development and relapse.
After completing her training, Dr. Stauffer took a sabbatical to focus on family, then returned to Cohen Children’s Medical Center to work in pediatric hematology, oncology, and stem cell transplant, followed by moving to Wichita, Kansas to work for the University of Kansas prior to opening Equipoise Healthcare.
meet dr. cohn
Moshe M. Cohn, MD, FAAP, HEC-C
Dr. Cohn is a pediatrician who specializes in caring for children with critical illness, complex medical conditions, and pain and complex symptom management. He is board-certified in pediatric critical care medicine and palliative medicine. Since 2012, he has practiced at major academic health centers in New York, New Jersey, and Florida. Dr. Cohn is also a certified clinical ethicist, and is trained in assisting patients, families, and healthcare professionals in making difficult medical decisions. Dr. Cohn treats children who suffer from pain syndromes and other distressing symptoms related to cancer, sickle cell disease, genetic diseases, extreme prematurity, brain and spinal cord injury, nerve damage, and systemic chronic illness.
Dr. Cohn attended medical school at the State University of New York, Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn, New York, where he also completed his residency in general pediatrics. He went on to complete a fellowship in pediatric critical care at Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New York, and a second fellowship in hospice and palliative medicine. Both fellowships are part of the Northwell Health system in New York. After completing his training, Dr. Cohn worked at NYU Langone Medical Center for 5 years before launching his own practice focusing on palliative medicine.
Dr. Cohn joins us at Equipoise Healthcare for a special collaboration via telehealth and in-person visits to provide palliative care to children and adults with complex, chronic diseases. Dr. Cohn is fluent in English and Hebrew.
meet tessa
Tessa Eftekhar, MSN, APRN, FNP-C
Tessa is a nurse practitioner with over seven years of experience in pediatric nursing, with a passion for hematology and oncology. She completed her Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing from Wichita State University. She worked at Oklahoma Children’s on the hematology, oncology and bone marrow transplant unit, in Oklahoma City, for several years. She then moved back home to Wichita and worked at Wesley Medical Center in the pediatric intensive care unit. Tessa completed her Masters of Science in Nursing through Chamberlain University.
Tessa is excited to further her career as a nurse practitioner and work with the special patient population of pediatric hematology and oncology.
The development of deep relationships with patients and their families is one of her favorite parts of the job.
In her spare time, Tessa enjoys spending time with her husband, 2 dogs, 3 cats, friends and family. She also enjoys staying active by working out and playing volleyball and softball.
meet shelby
Shelby Simmons, MSN, APRN, FNP-C
Shelby is a nurse practitioner with five years of pediatric nursing experience. She received her Bachelor's of Science in Nursing from Fort Hays State University, and went on to complete her Master's of Science in Nursing at Chamberlain University. Shelby has worked as a registered nurse in the pediatric intensive care unit at Wesley Medical Center, where she found a passion for caring for the pediatric hematology and oncology population. She has also spent some of her nursing career traveling to Oklahoma Children's Hospital, working in their pediatric intensive care unit.
Outside of work, Shelby enjoys spending time with her husband, step-son, and 3 dogs. She also enjoys spending time playing slowpitch softball with her husband and friends, and working out.
She is dedicated to providing excellent care and developing meaningful relationships with patients and their families, and is excited to provide quality care to this special population.
