Advocate Christ Dedicates New Pediatric Emergency Room

OAK LAWN, IL -- A Palos Hills first-grader cut the ribbon Wednesday morning for the opening of Advocate Christ Medical Center’s new pediatric emergency department.

Junnah Hamed was a very sick little girl last November when her parents brought her to the Oak Lawn medical center with a persistent fever. Junnah eventually suffered a heart block and went into cardiac arrest. A diagnosis of streptococcal toxic shock syndrome and a two-week coma underscored the need for outstanding pediatric emergency services in our community in the Southland.

Junnah was joined by leaders, physicians and associates from Advocate Children’s Hospital-Oak Lawn in dedicating and blessing the state-of-the-art facility. The pediatric emergency department has expanded capacity, including six additional treatment rooms, dedicated Level I pediatric trauma rooms, as well as psychiatric and isolation rooms.

The current pediatric emergency department is a 16-bed unit. When the new pediatric department opens in the next few weeks, the physical space will double. There will be 22 exam rooms up from the current 16. The new space is adjacent to the adult emergency department, so it is not in the exact blueprint of the current Pediatric Emergency Department.

Design of the pediatric ED began in 2012, in effort to provide a better experience for patients, families and caregivers. The pediatric ED is more spacious than the previous department and equipment is the latest and greatest. The new space will eight rooms to accommodate for communicable disease to separate really sick patients from the others. There are also two trauma bays, resuscitation rooms, psychiatric rooms and critical care rooms designed specifically for the hospital sickest patients.

There’s even a slushie machine in the ED for when sick, dehydrated young patients come in and need fluids. It’s a great way to get them the fluids they need and hopefully lift their spirits during what can potentially be a scary and traumatizing experience.

The expansion meets a growing community need. In 2016, some 37,000 children were treated on the campus. The kid-friendly environment officially opens to patients on March 7.

“It was all about the patient when we were planning this expansion,” says Dr. Brian Sayger, chair, Department of Emergency Medicine.“We were laser-focused on how our workflow and operations could significantly enhance the patient experience.Our new design and infrastructure capitalizes on opportunities to become more efficient and thus, more patient friendly.”