Infectious Disease

Infectious Disease

Women & Infants Hospital offers one of the nation’s only Women's Infectious Diseases Consult Services, a collaborative service of the hospital’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Department of Medicine, as well as the Integrated Program for High-Risk Pregnancy.

This service provides inpatient infectious disease consultation to all providers at Women & Infants Hospital in both obstetrics and gynecology and their respective subspecialties. Outpatient consultations are available to referring providers from throughout southern New England.

Contact Information:

Women & Infants Hospital
101 Dudley Street
Providence, RI 02903
P: (401) 274-1122, ext. 47096

Our Services

Women & Infants’ Infectious Disease Consult Service staff provides consultation services for the following issues:

Pregnancy or Gynecologic Infections
  • Complicated sexually transmitted infections
  • Desensitization therapy for known allergies in the treatment of trichomoniasis or syphilis in pregnancy
  • HIV infection
  • Intra-amniotic infections
  • Peripartum fever
  • Post-operative infectious complications
  • Preconception counseling for women with infectious disease or for a partner with infectious disease
  • Pyelonephritis or frequent UTIs in pregnancy
  • TORCH infections in pregnancy
  • Tubo-ovarian abscesses
General Infectious Disease in Women
  • Bacteremia
  • Cellulitis
  • Chronic urinary tract infections
  • Clostridium Difficile (c-dif)
  • MRSA
  • Neutropenic fever
  • Osteomyelitis
  • Resistant organisms

Request a Consultation

Consultations will be ordered by the referring physician and will be available seven days a week, 24 hours a day for both infectious disease questions related to the reproductive organs and general infectious diseases.

Inpatient Consultation: Women & Infants providers can find the physician on duty listed in “AMION” under “Infectious Disease” for the convenience of referring physicians.

Outpatient Consultation: Outpatient consultation can be arranged through the Maternal Fetal Medicine office at (401) 274-1122, ext. 47096.

Meet the Team

Erica J. Hardy, MD, MA, MMScErica J. Hardy, MD, MA, MMSc

Erica Hardy, MD, MA, MMSc, is director of the Women’s Infectious Disease Consult Service. Dr. Hardy completed a residency in medicine and pediatrics at Brown University in the Rhode Island Hospital/Hasbro Children’s Hospital program. She went on to complete an infectious disease fellowship at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. During fellowship, she completed a master’s of medical science at Harvard Medical School. In addition, she holds a master’s degree in philosophy with a concentration in medical ethics from the University of Maryland.

Dr. Hardy’s clinical and research interests include infectious disease issues in women, including congenital infection, complex sexually transmitted infections, as well as the medical care and follow-up of survivors of sexual assault. She has grant funding from the Center for AIDS Research to explore the female genital tract immunology after sexual assault, as well as vaginal microbiome in women initiating long-acting contraception. 

Dr. Hardy is the co-director of the Women & Infants Hospital Antimicrobial Stewardship Committee. She sees inpatient and outpatient infectious disease consults and is involved in medical education. She has been presented with several teaching awards from medical students while on their ob/gyn and obstetric medicine rotation, and from ob/gyn residents.