Healthcare professionals from Cook Children’s Health Care System conducted a press conference on Friday to discuss the significant patient volumes at its emergency rooms and urgent care centers.
This increase has led hospital leaders to appeal to parents, urging them to visit emergency and urgent care facilities only if absolutely necessary.
Dr. Amy Richardson, Assistant Medical Director for Cook Children’s Urgent Care Centers, revealed that the urgent care centers have seen 752 visits as of Wednesday, surpassing historical volumes and placing a strain on resources.
As a result, the hospital system’s seven urgent care clinics in Fort Worth and Prosper are experiencing longer wait times.
The health system’s emergency department also reported a troubling surge in patients, overwhelming staff and making it challenging to care for critically ill patients.
One of these patients is six-month-old Adalyn Brady, who required immediate intubation after experiencing respiratory failure. Due to her condition, the family has been at the hospital for nearly three weeks after she contracted Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV).
The hospital is currently caring for children dealing with COVID-19, flu, and the intensified effects of RSV. According to medical professionals, they anticipate a worsening of the issue throughout the winter months.
Cook Children’s leaders are encouraging parents to seek out primary care doctors or community health clinics for non-emergency cases and to anticipate long wait times at the emergency room or urgent care facilities due to resource constraints.
Dr. Richardson emphasized that understanding and patience are necessary under these circumstances, as priority needs to be given to significantly ill children.
In terms of hygiene practices, health professionals are recommending COVID-style measures, such as frequent hand washing, sneezing and coughing into the arm, keeping sick children at home, and considering the use of face masks.
Additionally, there is a limited supply of the RSV antibody vaccine for babies six months and younger, leading to difficulties in managing the spread of the virus.
To further shed light on the challenging situation faced by families, the press release includes the heart-wrenching story of Adalyn Brady and the difficulties her family encountered when seeking medical assistance for her.
The family will be supported through a fundraiser organized by the South Dallas Cornhole Region group, an active community devoted to helping individuals in need.
For more information, click here.
The family can also be reached via email at [email protected] or 469-337-4170.
“We just want lots of prayers for our sweet girl,” said Syren through tears. “And we want to bring awareness so no other parents have to go through this.”
In addition to receiving medical support, the family is grateful for the encouragement and support from the community and is hopeful for continued progress in Adalyn’s recovery.
