Apr 27, 2020   SOURCE: PR NewsWire

Children's Minnesota combines medical-surgical inpatients

MINNEAPOLIS, April 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Children's Minnesota has seen a decrease in patients seeking care at our facilities due to COVID-19 as families and children stay home to keep up social distancing practices. This decrease has been especially prominent in medical-surgical units as the result of postponed elective surgeries.

Children's Minnesota continues to evaluate its operations in order to best manage the supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) and resources. The pediatric health system decided to begin consolidating inpatient medical-surgical patients onto its Minneapolis campus on Monday, April 27 and expects there to be minimal impact on current patients in its care.

Children's Minnesota St. Paul hospital remains open

Children's Minnesota St. Paul hospital will remain open. The following services will still be available:

    --  Emergency department.
    --  Operating rooms.
    --  Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
    --  Pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). The PICU will admit intensive care
        patients, neurosurgical patients after surgery, epilepsy patients and
        diabetes patients.
    --  Behavioral health assessments and admissions of less than 24 hours.
    --  Outpatient infusions.
    --  Vascular access and sedation.
    --  Outpatient services including primary care, outpatient specialty care,
        behavioral health and rehabilitation services.

Changes at Children's Minnesota Minneapolis hospital

The following inpatient services will shift to Children's Minnesota Minneapolis hospital:

    --  Center for the Treatment of Eating Disorders (CTED).
    --  All medical-surgical inpatients seen at the St. Paul hospital, with the
        exception of care for diabetes and epilepsy, will be admitted in
        Minneapolis.

Resumption of medical-surgical admissions in St. Paul

This decision will be evaluated at least every two weeks. Resumption of med-surg inpatient admissions in St. Paul will be based on surgical volumes, the ability to accommodate PICU critical care admissions and the impact on the emergency department.

About Children's Minnesota

Children's Minnesota is the seventh largest pediatric health system in the United States and the only health system in Minnesota to provide care exclusively to children, from before birth through young adulthood. An independent and not-for-profit system since 1924, Children's Minnesota serves kids throughout the Upper Midwest at two free-standing hospitals, 12 primary and specialty care clinics and six rehabilitation sites. Children's Minnesota is regularly ranked by U.S. News & World Report as a top children's hospital.

Find us on Facebook @childrensminnesota or on Twitter and Instagram @childrensmn. Please visit childrensMN.org.

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SOURCE Children's Minnesota