Caring for our children

During the past couple of weeks, the construction of the Spence and Becky Wilson Baptist Children’s Hospital pediatric ICU has been a big topic of discussion in the Memphis area. The Commercial Appeal, Memphis’ largest daily newspaper, has been the source of much of this conversation, starting with an article on the project, followed by two guest editorials: one from two Le  Bonheur physicians, and the other from two of our physicians —Dr. Mark J. Heulitt, the new medical director of the PICU; and Dr. Miguel Rodriguez, medical director of the Spence and Becky Wilson Baptist Children’s Hospital emergency department.

Much of the talk centered around the quality of care we will provide in our new PICU and the reasons why we’re building one. Drs. Heulitt and Rodriguez did an excellent job of explaining how prepared we are to provide exceptional care to our pediatric patients. I would like to talk about why it’s important for us to build a pediatrics program.

We are providing high-quality pediatric health care services to those who need it. People who have Baptist health insurance need and deserve expert care for their children, and they cannot get it anywhere else without having to pay significantly more for it. The 23,500 patients who have been treated in our pediatric emergency department need quick, convenient access to pediatric care. The children who have benefited from services unique to this area, such as our Pediatric Eye Center, need specialized care close to home.

We are providing those services today, and with the opening of the PICU, we will be able to provide even more and treat even more children. Every year, 11,000 babies are born and 90,000 children are treated at Baptist. Our expert team of pediatricians, pediatric nurses and other specially trained staff, many of whom come to us from Le Bonheur, have the skill and knowledge to deliver, safe, effective care. And just like at Le Bonheur, Campbell Clinic orthopedists and Semmes-Murphey pediatric neurosurgeons cover our ED and will cover our PICU. Patient satisfaction for our pediatric ED is at the 99th percentile, and we’re investing the resources needed to help ensure parents are equally as satisfied with our PICU.

I encourage you to share the information here and in Drs. Heulitt’s and Rodriguez’s column with your friends, loved ones or anyone who asks about our PICU. I am so proud of the progress the Spence and Becky Wilson Baptist Children’s Hospital has made so far, and I salute the Children’s Hospital team members who are making that success possible.

If you have any questions, or if you want to share your thoughts, please feel free to email me, tweet me @jason_m_little, or find me on LinkedIn. Thanks for helping to tell our story.