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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.
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.
Palivizumab (Synagis) Administration Began September 15, 2021
Seattle Children’s started administration of palivizumab (Synagis) for eligible patients two months early this year, on September 15, due to high RSV rates seen in late summer and an increase in the number of RSV patients admitted to the ICU needing ventilator support. We are providing Synagis to current Seattle Children’s patients who are eligible. We recommend community providers assess their patients for RSV risk and begin administering Synagis to eligible patients.
Many families and providers are wondering what precautions to take before sending kids back to sports after a COVID-19 infection. Using guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and American Heart Association (AHA), cardiologists at Seattle Children’s created the proposed protocol to guide PCPs in safely returning kids to sports after infection. It was presented in our July CME, “Return to Sports After COVID-19, Plus Updates on Post-Vaccine Perimyocarditis,” along with information about COVID’s impact on heart function and information about why the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks of post-vaccine myopericarditis.
As of September 1, 2021:
The return to school and in-person learning is likely to bring up a variety of emotions for children and families. Here are some resources for supporting children’s mental health as back-to-school season arrives.
Dismantling overpolicing and systems that may result in overpolicing of people of color at Seattle Children’s is critical to protecting the health and safety and minimizing trauma for Black, Indigenous and People of Color patients, families and communities. It’s one of the five pillars of our Anti-Racism Organizational Change and Accelerated EDI Plan.
Following the work in April 2021 of a multidisciplinary group that examined how Seattle Children’s engages with law enforcement, a policy has been created to guide workforce members on how and when to appropriately engage law enforcement at Seattle Children’s. Over the coming months, our related policies will be updated and our teams will receive training.
The official Seattle Children’s App is now available in English and Spanish. The app, created by Seattle Children’s, helps families quickly connect to MyChart, find and contact services to support their child and family, access our interpreter services, and use turn-by-turn directions to navigate the hospital.
Families can download the app today from the Apple App or Google Play stores.
When referring your patients to Seattle Children’s, please share this information by giving them our family flyer about the new app (Spanish version).
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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