Hospital units for the nation’s most critically ill children are disappearing according to a CBS News report. In the past year, hospitals have closed pediatric intensive care units in Montana, Oregon and Missouri, and overnight pediatric wings have shut in Illinois and California.
As hospitals cut costs, many are converting those beds to newborn or adult care, concentrating pediatric intensive care in large medical hubs. “You can’t expect that people will be fine if the next-closest children’s hospital is a flight away or an eight-hour drive,” said Dr. Elizabeth Mack of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Hospitals point to low patient volumes, a shortage of pediatric subspecialists, lower payments for treating children and the cost of child-sized equipment. A recent analysis found the number of hospitals with pediatric inpatient units dropped nearly 30% from 2008 to 2022, from 1,749 to 1,226, leaving about three-quarters of hospitals with no inpatient pediatric care.
Researchers warn the gaps could widen with federal Medicaid cuts, since about half of U.S. children are covered by Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Rural areas are already hit hardest.
Sources: CBS News. Thee Arizona Times uses AI-assisted reporting reviewed against the sources listed.
Photo: Pittigrilli / CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
