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After a dip in census over the Thanksgiving holiday, the Emergency Department (ED) and the hospital had a high surge of patients on Monday, November 29. The ED was at 200% capacity Monday evening with a mental health surge of 16 patients (40% of the normal ED bed capacity).
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has removed qualifying criteria to expand who can get the COVID-19 vaccine booster doses for extended immunity. Seattle Children’s now is able to administer booster doses under an emergency use authorization to any individual who is 18 years and older and has:
As a reminder, we continue to experience a very high number of Emergency Department (ED) visits due in large part to respiratory illnesses, mental health concerns and COVID-19.* The ED is using every available space to treat patients, including lobby space, a converted storage area and tents. Seattle Children’s Urgent Care clinics also are experiencing high demand and are full most days.
Seattle Children’s ambulatory clinics are now screening all patients 10 years of age and older for suicidal ideation. This includes patients at our regional clinics. Screening was rolled out in phases starting in May. Since then, 9,000 ambulatory patients have been screened and over 700 screened positive and received follow-up interventions. Suicide screening has been in place for more than two years in our Emergency Department and inpatient units.
A newborn screening test for Wilson disease is being trialed in Washington beginning November 1 in a pilot study that Dr. Sihoun Hahn hopes will lead to diagnosing infants across the country who have this life-threatening but easily treated disease.
Three leading U.S. pediatric health organizations declared a state of emergency in youth mental health on October 19, 2021. We want to take this opportunity to share several new flyers from Seattle Children’s intended to help families find a qualified and available mental health counselor for their child. We encourage our provider partners in the community to share them with patients and families.
Between October 23 and November 5, we are conducting 20 online focus group sessions with a diverse cross-section of Seattle Children’s workforce to solicit input on our Health Equity and Anti-Racism Action Plan (English and Spanish) and inform and prioritize our next steps. The groups are being led by an external, independent firm.
Provider Grand Rounds
Thursdays from 8 to 9 a.m. Instructions on watching the live webcast are here.
From: Dr. Brianna Enriquez, Medical Director of Emergency Management and Dr. Elaine Albert, Medical Director, Inpatient Access
In the last week, there has been a large increase in Emergency Department (ED) visits due to a combination of respiratory illnesses, mental health and COVID-19. The ED is functioning at 150% capacity on average. The ED team is using every available space to treat patients, including the lobby, a converted storage area and tents. Approximately 33% of ED bed space is being used for patients with mental and behavioral health issues.
Seattle Children's complies with applicable federal and other civil rights laws and does not discriminate, exclude people or treat them differently based on race, color, religion (creed), sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin (ancestry), age, disability, or any other status protected by applicable federal, state or local law. Financial assistance for medically necessary services is based on family income and hospital resources and is provided to children under age 21 whose primary residence is in Washington, Alaska, Montana or Idaho.
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