Children’s Hospitals Now Turn Away Sick Children — SkimNews
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- Pediatric emergency care moved from an extraordinary 2022 peak to a persistent baseline: in 2026, the unprecedented crowding associated with the Covid-influenza-RSV “tripledemic” became a “normal Tuesday,” and children’s hospitals routinely turned sick children away.
- Community hospitals increasingly transferred children with conditions they once handled locally—including a 1-year-old’s allergic reaction, a 6-year-old’s asthma attack and a teenager’s gallstones—as their pediatric services degraded or disappeared.
- A rural California hospital had no pediatric specialists, pediatric nurses or children’s ICU in winter 2022; after it sought help from northern California children’s hospitals during the tripledemic, no bed was available and the baby died.
- Washington’s RMOCC located a neonatal ICU bed after a 12-hour search, and the receiving hospital made an infection-control exception; the baby lived. The coordination hub closed last year after budget cuts and is seeking renewed funding in this year’s budget.
- MOCCs existed in at least 19 states in 2023, although many opened only during surges; the authors argue regional coordination centers should receive state and national funding so rural emergency departments can make one call instead of assembling a phone tree.
- Congress is urged to preserve and augment Medicaid pediatric funding because pediatric admissions and emergency-department visits often reimburse below cost, making them money-losing for hospitals and encouraging them to favor more lucrative adult services.
- Children’s hospitals could serve as funded regional hubs for telehealth consultations, training and quality-improvement support; the authors say remote specialist assistance can reduce transfers and make care in smaller community hospitals safer.
Why it matters: Washington’s RMOCC turned a 12-hour transfer search into one successful placement, yet the hub later closed after budget cuts. At least 19 states had such systems in 2023; the authors say permanent funding and one-call coordination save transfer time and lives.
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