Seattle Children's Provider News

To better serve our patients and families, Seattle Children’s Urgent Care Clinics in Seattle, Bellevue, Everett and Federal Way are now open an hour earlier on weekdays, at 4 p.m.

As a reminder, all Seattle Children’s Urgent Care locations are open seven days a week, including holidays. Hours are from 4 to 10:30 p.m. on weekdays and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends. Appointments can be made online the same day starting at midnight or by calling 206-987-2211. Limited walk-in appointments are also available.

Urgent care and ED hours and locations are found in the Emergency or Urgent Care Referral Guide. Read full post »

Jennifer Bauer

Jennifer Bauer, MD, MS is the only orthopaedic surgeon at Seattle Children’s whose elective practice is singularly dedicated to the treatment of pediatric spine problems.

She has been selected this year for both the Scoliosis Research Society’s Edgar Dawson North American Traveling Fellowship and the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America’s International Traveling Fellowship, both of which will bring her to other leading centers to exchange ideas, give lectures and discuss research collaboration.

What is the basic treatment algorithm for idiopathic scoliosis?

Dr. Bauer: In general, children with curves of 20 to 25 degrees on an upright spine radiograph who still have at least a moderate amount of growth remaining (Risser 0-2) will be recommended a thoracolumbosacral orthosis (TLSO) brace to keep the curve from progressing, as well as offered scoliosis-specific Schroth physical therapy as an adjunct to the brace. This is continued until growth stops. If a child is younger than 5, they may be casted instead of braced. Children with curves over 45 to 50 degrees who still have a large amount of growth left will be offered surgery with growth-friendly implants that allow continued height. These will be converted to a final fusion once appropriate growth has completed. In patients with curves of this size without as much growth left (at least after their tri-radiate cartilages have closed), a final fusion may be recommended. The goal for surgery is to stop a curve from progressing, as curves that reach 70 to 80 degrees affect pulmonary function, and secondarily to correct deformity. The majority of curves over 50 degrees, even after a child stops growing, will continue to slowly progress, and thus these are offered surgery. Read full post »

Seattle Children’s Autism Center is beginning to restructure its psychiatric medication management program with the goal of reducing long wait times for appointments and improving overall access to care. Wait times for a first-time appointment are currently one year or more. The medication management program is also actively recruiting new providers to fill gaps left by several staff departures last year.

The new medication management program will no longer see patients year after year for ongoing medication management, but will instead aim to provide a short-term, consultative model that helps patients get stabilized and on the right medication program, then return to their primary care provider or a community psychiatrist to receive ongoing medication management. In most cases, patients would require 3 to 5 visits, although patients needing more time to find the right regimen and stabilize would be seen longer. Read full post »

A clinical trial at Seattle Children’s of a new drug called Trikafta has shown dramatic improvements in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, and is projected to benefit up to 90% of all people with CF. Seattle Children’s Cystic Fibrosis Program participated in the phase 3 trial, and our On the Pulse blog describes the research science, the team of doctors and nurses involved at Children’s and the very personal impact on 17-year-old Ellie and her family.

“The first therapy approved for cystic fibrosis treated only about 7% of patients,” said Dr. Ron Gibson, director of Seattle Children’s Cystic Fibrosis Program. “Not only is this third-generation drug more robust, but it is treating the vast majority of patients with cystic fibrosis.” Read full post »

Seattle Children’s On the Pulse reports the hospital’s research teams are advancing the ways hospitals treat pediatric cancer patients with CAR T-cell immunotherapies. For the youngest patients — between 1 and 3 years old — Seattle Children’s physician Colleen Annesley, MD, reports that CAR T-cell therapy is safe and effective in a paper presented in December at the 2019 American Society of Hematology annual meeting. For older patients experiencing the systemic inflammatory response cytokine release syndrome (CRS) as a side effect of CAR T-cell therapy, doctors at Seattle Children’s have found that treating mild CRS promptly instead of waiting does not reduce the persistence of CAR T-cells in the body, but does reduce by half the rate of severe CRS. The finding is likely to change the practices of other pediatric cancer centers using CAR T-cell immunotherapies. Read full post »

Seattle Children’s has completed the latest step in the installation process of our new air handling unit. That installation work required us to temporarily shut down all the operating rooms (ORs) at the hospital.

After extensively cleaning the ORs and performing air testing this past week, we have reopened three ORs we had previously been using that already have in-room HEPA filtration. Ten of our ORs will remain closed until the end of January 2020 to allow for installation of the new HEPA filtration systems in each of those rooms.

We will continue our extended operating hours at the hospital and Bellevue Clinic and Surgery Center. This will allow us to serve more patients in our available ORs while we continue work to reopen those that are closed; we will also perform some surgeries at partner hospitals.

Please note that additional work will need to occur before the new air handling unit can be activated — we will not begin using it until the end of January. Read full post »

We want to update you about our plans for reopening the four operating rooms (ORs) we had previously been using at our hospital campus, including the three that already have in-room HEPA filtration.

Work is continuing, and we now expect to reopen these four ORs after the holidays.

The other 10 ORs at our main hospital campus will remain closed until the end of January 2020 to allow for installation of the new HEPA filtration systems in those rooms.

We will provide updates as new information becomes available.

How should we refer patients with possible surgical needs?

Please continue to refer patients by calling our ED Communications Center at 206-987-8899. We will review potential surgical patients on a case-by-case basis with the appropriate surgical specialists and with our Surgeon-in-Chief. During the shutdown, we will perform emergent surgeries in the cath labs and alternate sites in the hospital; we will also perform some surgeries at partner hospitals. Read full post »

In late November, we moved components of our new air handling unit onto the hospital’s roof. The next step in the installation process is scheduled to begin this coming week and will require us to temporarily shut down all the operating rooms (ORs) at the hospital. During the shutdown, we will perform emergent surgeries in the cath labs and alternate sites in the hospital; we will also perform some surgeries at partner hospitals.

On Tuesday, Dec. 10, we plan to decommission all of the ORs, including the four we are currently using. After decommissioning, construction crews will perform the planned work on the air handling unit. We will then extensively clean the ORs and perform air testing.

We plan to reopen the four rooms we have been using on Saturday, Dec. 21 — this includes the three ORs that already have in-room HEPA filtration. The other 10 ORs will remain closed until the end of January 2020 to allow for installation of the new HEPA filtration systems in those rooms.

We will provide updates as new information becomes available.

Please note that additional work will need to occur before the new air handling unit can be activated — we will not begin using it until the end of January.

How should we refer patients with possible surgical needs?

Please continue to refer patients by calling our ED Communications Center at 206-987-8899. We will review potential surgical patients on a case-by-case basis with the appropriate surgical specialists and with our Surgeon-in-Chief. During the shutdown, we will perform emergent surgeries in the cath labs and alternate sites in the hospital; we will also perform some surgeries at partner hospitals.

Where should I direct families who have questions?

Patients and families who have questions or concerns not related to scheduling may call our Patient and Family Relations Department at 206-987-2550. For an interpreter, they can call 866-583-1527 and ask to be connected to this number: 7-2550.

What if I have more questions?

Providers who would like to speak with Seattle Children’s leadership team directly should contact Dr. Jeff Ojemann, Seattle Children’s surgeon-in-chief (206-987-2544 or [email protected]).

If you have an urgent clinical concern, please call the Provider-to-Provider Line at 206-987-7777 and ask to speak to the specific surgical service on call.

For more information, read our complete FAQ for providers.

Read full post »

Researchers at Seattle Children’s Research Institute have discovered that populations of neurons in the brainstem have a previously unrecognized susceptibility to disruption by nicotine during early brain development.

Published in the Journal of Comparative Neurology, their findings offer a clue to how nicotine exposure in utero could have a lasting effect on the brain’s wiring and give rise to negative outcomes like SIDS.

“Our findings point to new areas in the brain where nicotine could act as a developmental disruptor and could be important to understanding sudden infant death syndrome,” says Dr. Eric Turner of the research institute’s Center for Integrative Brain Research. Read full post »

All 14 operating rooms at Seattle Children’s main campus will be closed for approximately two weeks in December; you will receive an update with specific dates when details are confirmed, likely later this week. The closure, which will include the 4 ORs that have remained open up until now, will allow us to move the new air handling unit into place.

As a reminder, if your patient has surgical needs, please continue to call our ED Communications Center at 206-987-8899. We are continuing to review potential surgical patients on a case-by-case basis with the appropriate surgical specialists and with our surgeon-in-chief.

During the closure of all operating rooms at our main campus, we anticipate using our two catheterization labs  for emergency procedures. We will continue to divert some cases to other local hospitals and perform additional surgeries at our Bellevue Clinic and Surgery Center.

As you may have seen in the media this week, several lawsuits were recently filed against Seattle Children’s. We are incredibly sorry for the hurt experienced by these families and regret that recent developments have caused additional grief. Out of respect for privacy, we do not intend to share details about our patients or comment on specific cases or legal action.

Previous information about air quality issues in our operating rooms is available in our complete FAQ for providers. Read full post »