— Even before their daughter was born in June, Aaron and Helen Chavez knew she would need heart surgery. Doctors expected her to have an operation around 6 months of age. When it became apparent in September that it would have to happen much sooner than expected, the Chavezes said, they endured an agonizing monthlong wait for a bed to open at their local children’s hospital so baby MJ could have the procedure she needed. “They said, ‘Well, we would love to get her in as soon as possible. However, right now, we don’t have beds,’ ” Aaron said. Space for children in hospitals is at a premium across the country. Data reported to the US government shows that as of Friday, more than three-quarters of pediatric hospital beds and 80% of intensive care beds for kids are full. That’s up from an average of about two-thirds full over the past two years. Federal data shows that the strain on hospital beds for kids began in August and September, which is right around the start of the school year in many areas. Orange, CA – November 01: Various signs are posted outside the emergency room entrance at Providence St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, on Tuesday, November 1, 2022. Orange Countys health officer has declared a local health emergency in response to increases in respiratory illnesses and an onslaught of the quickly spreading RSV, a respiratory virus that is most dangerous in young children. (Photo by Mark Rightmire/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images) Mark Rightmire/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register/Getty Images Flu and other respiratory virus activity continues to ramp up across the US Hospitals are seeing higher than normal numbers of sick infants and children due to a particularly early and severe season for respiratory infections in kids, including respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, and influenza. As of Friday, Golisano Children’s Hospital in Rochester, New York, the facility that treated daughter, MJ, needed surgery, the hospital scheduled it for October 24. But the day before, MJ got sick again. She was admitted to the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit, or NICU, where she spent five days. The hospital’s intensive care unit had been full since mid-September, but the staff there were able to squeeze out a few patients who didn– Even before their daughter was born in June– A hole in the heart even after being– It’– They say its a case-by-case basis” “It becomes clear that it’s time-sensitive, then we do what we can to get them in,” Dr. Tim Stevens, the chief clinical officer at Golisano Children's Hospital
The family of a baby with a rare heart defect is a case study in the effects of pediatric hospital shortages.
