Wait times are currently low for families requesting assistance from the Washington Mental Health Referral Service for Children and Teens. Families are able to get an intake appointment within a few days, which is about the quickest since the program’s inception in 2019.
After speaking with the intake specialist, families will receive a list within a few weeks of mental health therapists in their local area who are taking new patients and accept their insurance. Even though the entire process may take up to a month, we encourage families to get started by contacting the referral service to get in the queue.
The number to call for an intake appointment is 833-303-5437 (interpreter line: 866-583-1527). Teens who are 13 and older can call the referral service for themselves. An online option is also available.
The service is for children and teens through age 17 who live in Washington state.
Seattle Children’s is now offering the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 updated (bivalent*) booster vaccine and the Moderna bivalent booster vaccine to our patients, workforce members and community members. Individuals can receive a bivalent booster dose if it has been at least two months since they completed their primary COVID-19 vaccination series or have received the most recent booster dose with any authorized or approved single-strain (monovalent) COVID-19 vaccine.
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Update on Emergency Department and Hospital Capacity
- Seattle Children’s continues to experience very high census and significant capacity constraints in the Emergency Department and inpatient areas.
- The recent closure of Fairfax Behavioral Health and decision by Providence Everett to close its pediatric beds to make space for adult patients have further constrained our hospital capacity.
- Last Friday, July 1, the hospital moved to contingency status for staffing. Contingency falls under Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Disaster Planning guidelines and is part of a continuum that ranges from “conventional” to “contingency,” and, finally, “crisis.” Moving to contingency means that the workspaces, staff and/or supplies used are not consistent with daily practices but maintain or have minimal impact on usual patient care processes.
- We continue to run under a disaster incident command structure to rapidly manage issues and ensure safe care for the patients that need us.
- Our region is reporting that most hospitals are over 100% capacity and some are reporting their highest occupancy ever. This is resulting in rural critical access hospitals (those without critical care capabilities) frequently boarding critically ill patients in their Emergency Departments for prolonged periods of time. It is also stressing the EMS system and impacting 911 response times in certain areas of the state.
- It is imperative that our provider colleagues manage patients in primary care whenever possible and appropriate. If sending patient to the Seattle Children’s ED, please call our Communications Center at 206-987-8899 first. This will help us to manage and plan for necessary space and staffing. Please also inform the family we will see them as soon as we can but there is likely to be a wait.
- See our Emergency or Urgent Care Referral Guide.
COVID-19 Vaccination for Children Ages 6 Months to 4 Years Old
Seattle Children’s is now able to offer COVID-19 vaccines to children ages 6 months to 4 years (under 5 years old) based on approvals last month from the CDC, Washington State Department of Health and the Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup.
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Washington state is down 13% overall in the number of vaccines administered compared to pre-pandemic levels. The National HPV Roundtable estimates that it may take 10 years to catch up on cancer-preventing human papilloma virus (HPV) immunizations.
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Starting today, Seattle Children’s is offering appointments to children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years (under 6 years old) to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, based on recent approvals from the CDC, Washington State Department of Health and the Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup. We are grateful to be able to offer COVID-19 vaccines to young patients.
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From: Dr. Elaine Albert, Medical Director, Inpatient Access and Dinarte Viveiros, Vice President of Patient Care Services and Associate Chief Nurse, Inpatient and Emergency Services
Measles Mimics
- We have had a number of patients present to our Emergency Department (ED) and Urgent Care (UC) with possible measles. While we are not seeing an increase in measles cases, an unidentified patient or family member concerning for measles can have a huge impact on our facilities. These have caused the closures of our urgent care clinics and ED waiting rooms at times. Confirmed measles cases have resulted in exposures and the need for immunizations or immunoglobulin for patients who are unvaccinated or severely immunocompromised.
- If you suspect measles and are sending a patient for evaluation, please call first at 206-987-8899 so we can provide a safe way to enter a room and be evaluated without impacting other patients. Please also advise the family to wait in their car and call us on arrival.
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