On March 17, Washington moved to the next phase of COVID-19 vaccination (Phase 1B, Tier 2), which means people who are 16 years and older with certain chronic conditions or disabilities are now eligible to receive the vaccine. Seattle Children’s will continue to serve as a community vaccination site and will offer vaccines through our public portal to all eligible members of the public, as supplies permit.
We are contacting our current patients ages 16 to 21 with certain chronic conditions or disabilities who meet the DOH vaccine eligibility criteria to offer a vaccine appointment. Read full post »
Seattle Children’s is vaccinating individuals who are eligible under Washington state’s Phase 1-A, priority groups 1 and 2, including:
- All workers at risk in healthcare settings except those who belong to another health system that is offering the vaccine.
- Community members who are eligible under state guidelines, when vaccine supplies permit.
Testing update
As of March 3, Seattle Children’s has tested 26,879 patients. 734 have tested positive or inconclusive, for a positivity rate of 2.7%. Approximately half of all positive patients are asymptomptic.
A new study published in JAMA Network Open shows that providing cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) as part of a collaborative care model for youth who have experienced persistent post-concussive symptoms (PPCS) offers a promising treatment to alleviate symptoms and improve functioning.
Every year, an estimated 1.1 to 1.9 million youth suffer a sports-related concussion. Between 20% and 30% of those experience symptoms that last more than 30 days, including mental health challenges such as depression or anxiety. Yet there is a lack of high-quality evidence to guide best practices for the treatment of PPCS in the pediatric population. Read full post »
To better serve the Tri-Cities and surrounding region, Seattle Children’s Tri-Cities Clinic is moving to a larger, more centrally located clinic location opening March 11, 2021, in Kennewick, WA. The clinic will continue to offer the same pediatric specialties, with more room to help meet the growing need for specialty pediatric care in the region.
The new clinic in Kennewick will open Thursday, March 11, 2021, and will replace the clinic in Richland, WA, which will close for good at the end of the day on Thursday, March 4, 2021.
New Clinic Address: 8232 W. Grandridge Blvd., Kennewick, WA 99336 (near Costco)
Clinic and Appointments: 509-582-1700
Provider to Provider Line: 206-987-7777
Online: sseattlechildrens.org/contact/tri-cities/ Read full post »
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Bristol Myers Squibb’s Breyanzi, a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy used to treat adults with certain types of large B-cell lymphoma who have not responded to or who have relapsed after standard treatments.
The approval was supported by research at Seattle Children’s, including the CAR T-cell product, patient product manufacturing for Juno Therapeutics’ TRANSCEND trial and data from the Pediatric Leukemia Adoptive Therapy (PLAT-02) clinical trial.
Read more: “Cancer Research at Seattle Children’s Contributes to FDA Approval of CAR T-Cell Immunotherapy Treatment for Adults with Relapsed or Refractory Large B-Cell Lymphoma,” in On the Pulse, Feb. 8, 2021.
To improve support for our patients and their families/caregivers, while ensuring the highest level of safety for everyone, starting Thursday, Jan. 28, Seattle Children’s began allowing up to two caregivers in inpatient settings. Previously the limit was one caregiver. In our outpatient settings, the caregiver limit remains one.
Please note:
- Patients in single rooms can have up to two caregivers in their room around the clock.
- Patients in double rooms can have up to two caregivers in their room during visiting hours (8 a.m. to 8 p.m.) and one caregiver overnight.
- Patients in ambulatory, urgent care and surgical settings may have one caregiver with them.
- Patients in the Emergency Department may have up to two caregivers with them.
Evelyn Hsu
Seattle Children’s is pleased to announce that Dr. Evelyn Hsu accepted the position of division chief of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, following a year as acting division chief and a very competitive national search. She also has served as program director of the Transplant Hepatology Fellowship and medical director for Liver Transplantation.
“I’m excited to join this group in an official capacity. My priority is to expand our staff and open up our services to care for more children in our region, while implementing a service model that allows us to scale up in size while continuing to provide excellent care.,” says Hsu. Read full post »
To realize our vision of becoming an anti-racist and equitable health organization, Seattle Children’s has developed the Anti-Racism Organizational Change (AROC) and Accelerated Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Plan. This plan was designed with guidance and support from our workforce, patients and families, community, and trusted and expert leaders on anti-racism work, equity, inclusion and diversity. Read full post »
Patients tested to date: 21,461. Positive: 536 (2.4%). Six patients are in the hospital; others are recovering at home.
Seattle Children’s is excited to announce the launch of a novel nonprofit research group that will accelerate the development of new medicines for childhood cancer and other debilitating pediatric diseases.
The new enterprise, Seattle Children’s Therapeutics, reimagines what a pediatric research organization should look like. It is intentionally structured like a biotech company rather than a typical academic research group. The people and functions needed to bring new medicines from bench to bedside — research scientists in the lab, clinical trials management teams, regulatory compliance specialists, business managers and a state-of-the-art on-site facility for manufacturing cellular and genetic therapeutics — have been brought together under one roof, under one management and leadership team.
Seattle Children’s Therapeutics includes a team of 130 led by Dr. Michael Jensen, Seattle Children’s chief therapeutics officer. A renowned pediatric cancer researcher and former founding scientist at Juno Therapeutics, Jensen says Seattle Children’s is “breaking the status quo” of pediatric disease research. Read full post »
