Why are pediatric patients that require hospitalization need to be transferred to either Houston or Temple?
A bit of perspective - when my now 26-yr-old child was 8 months old, we ended up at St Jo ER on a Saturday night due to a very high fever. He was a S&W patient, but they only had a small clinic at the time so St. Jo's was the only ER. Due to low oxygen saturation levels, he was admitted to their pediatric floor for treatment of bronchiolitis. Years later, when he was 12 years old, he was hospitalized with pneumonia and was on the pediatric floor at the former 'The Med.' Both times, either the on-call S&W pediatrician or his S&W primary care pediatrician managed his care while in the hospital.
Many years later:
This week, my 14-month-old grandchild was diagnosed with bronchiolitis and pneumonia at S&W during an appointment for a persistent fever (subsequently tested positive for parainfluenza and rhinovirus). His oxygen saturation levels were low-ish (upper 80's when napping in the exam room). He was originally seen at a scheduled late afternoon appointment but was sent to the ER when it was close to 5pm and his O2 sats were not improving.
After ER triage, he had to be transported, by ambulance, to the children's hospital in Temple for oxygen support. Thankfully, he was discharged less than 24 hours later.
NGL, we are not looking forward to the upcoming ambulance/ER bills.
Why are children not treated locally? The nurse in Temple said they see many BCS patients. Why have the local hospitals decided to not manage pediatric patients?
Is it because Hospitalists now manage admitted patients (instead of the patient's regular physician or a rotating on-call physician) and those that treat children are not cost effective? Too expensive to have pediatric-specific equipment? Staffing issues?
Just seems like a step backwards for a community that has nearly doubled in population since my children were young.
A bit of perspective - when my now 26-yr-old child was 8 months old, we ended up at St Jo ER on a Saturday night due to a very high fever. He was a S&W patient, but they only had a small clinic at the time so St. Jo's was the only ER. Due to low oxygen saturation levels, he was admitted to their pediatric floor for treatment of bronchiolitis. Years later, when he was 12 years old, he was hospitalized with pneumonia and was on the pediatric floor at the former 'The Med.' Both times, either the on-call S&W pediatrician or his S&W primary care pediatrician managed his care while in the hospital.
Many years later:
This week, my 14-month-old grandchild was diagnosed with bronchiolitis and pneumonia at S&W during an appointment for a persistent fever (subsequently tested positive for parainfluenza and rhinovirus). His oxygen saturation levels were low-ish (upper 80's when napping in the exam room). He was originally seen at a scheduled late afternoon appointment but was sent to the ER when it was close to 5pm and his O2 sats were not improving.
After ER triage, he had to be transported, by ambulance, to the children's hospital in Temple for oxygen support. Thankfully, he was discharged less than 24 hours later.
NGL, we are not looking forward to the upcoming ambulance/ER bills.
Why are children not treated locally? The nurse in Temple said they see many BCS patients. Why have the local hospitals decided to not manage pediatric patients?
Is it because Hospitalists now manage admitted patients (instead of the patient's regular physician or a rotating on-call physician) and those that treat children are not cost effective? Too expensive to have pediatric-specific equipment? Staffing issues?
Just seems like a step backwards for a community that has nearly doubled in population since my children were young.