PEDIATRIC URGENT CARE FACILITY GETS AN ‘A’:

NEW FACILITY TREATS MORE THAN 8,000 PATIENTS
DURING 1st YEAR OF OPERATION

(Corpus Christi, TX) Driscoll Children’s Hospital releases numbers and future outlook for Driscoll Children’s Urgent Care as it wraps up its 1st year of caring for children. After opening one year ago on October 25, 2004, the outpatient service facility has cared for 8,137 children during after-hours and on weekends for minor emergencies and illnesses. Patient loads average 625 per month. Driscoll Children’s Urgent Care is the only urgent care center of its kind in Nueces County caring exclusively for the pediatric population.

“We are very pleased with the facility’s first year of operation and our outlook is very bright for the future,” says Charlotte Trudeau, BSN, RN, CPE, Driscoll’s Manager of both Emergency Services and Urgent Care said of the Urgent Care facility, which is serving the pediatric community, especially the Southside which is growing by leaps and bounds. “Patients visiting the Urgent Care center for minor emergencies instead of the hospital’s Emergency Department are experiencing convenience, as well as less expensive care.”

The 10,000-square-foot facility cares for minor pediatric emergencies and illnesses including lacerations, flu, asthma, runny noses, chicken pox, shingles, rashes, as well as minor fractures and sprains. Only open during non-office hours, the facility does not compete with local pediatrician’s offices.

Driscoll Children’s Hospital’s Emergency Department cares for more than 40,000 patients annually, the majority of which are considered less acute or non-life threatening. Hospital officials have noted a reduction in the hospital’s Emergency Department’s patient numbers, especially during peak volume times, and are currently conducting studies to determine if the changes can be solidly linked to the opening of the Urgent Care facility. Reductions in volume allow for quicker turnaround times and more in-depth, one-on-one care at both facilities. In addition, hospital officials anticipate patient loads at the Driscoll Children’s Urgent Care to continuously increase as word of mouth and on-going advertising efforts continue.

Driscoll Children’s Hospital contracts with Coastal Bend Emergency Services to staff the facility, just as they do with their current Emergency Department. One to two physicians at a time, a nurse, several full-time office staff, and two to three clinical staff such as phlebotomists, radiology technicians and lab technicians, specially trained in caring for children staff the facility.

In addition to five exam rooms and one procedure room, the facility hosts a 250-square-foot pediatric laboratory with on-site analysis including complete blood count (CBC), chemistry panels, and urinalysis. All complex lab analysis is referred to the hospital’s main campus. An 800-square-foot area hosts the facility’s radiology services where on-site physicians conduct initial reviews, but Driscoll pediatric radiologists read and diagnose the images via the Picturing Archiving and Communication System (PACS system), a filmless radiological environment, networked with the hospital’s main campus.

Currently, there are six urgent care centers operating in the Corpus and the Calallen area, with one being located on Saratoga Drive. Most advertise comprehensive family services, but none specialize in full-scale pediatric services. Driscoll Children’s Urgent Care is open 5 p.m. until 11 p.m. on weekdays and 2 p.m. until 11 p.m. on weekends.

About Driscoll Children’s Hospital
“Improve the health of adults and you give them back their health …
Improve the health of children and you give them their life.”

Since opening its doors in 1953, Driscoll Children’s Hospital has been offering hope and healing to the children of South Texas for half a century. The facility is a 189-bed pediatric tertiary care center with pediatric board-certified specialists representing 19 medical and nine surgical specialties. Each year, more than 6,000 children are admitted for inpatient care, 5,000 for day surgery, and 50,000 for outpatient primary and specialty care, as well as 40,000 for emergency care, as the first South Texas hospital with emergency services exclusively for children. Additionally, Driscoll maintains a state-of-the-art ground/air transport team, 20-bed pediatric intensive care unit, 40-bed neonatal intensive care unit, and specialized medical outreach.

www.driscollchildrens.org

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