WRH aims to reduce ER waits for kids during peak times. Here’s how:

Windsor Regional Hospital is introducing a new service aimed at helping paediatric patients who attend the emergency departments during certain time periods to get faster care.

Ontario Health has provided WRH with funding to launch the Paediatric Emergency Diversion Service (PEDs) through the fall and winter season.

“The new Paediatric Emergency Diversion Service will help ensure our paediatric patients are receiving efficient, high quality care during peak time for respiratory illnesses during times when the availability to community services is limited,” said Rosemary Petrakos, vice president of surgery, peri-operative, and Women's & Children's Services.

WRH officials said the goal of reducing the time paediatric patients spend in the ER and, in turn, optimizing emergency department resources and reducing overcrowding.

This unique service run by a paediatric specialty team will be available on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m.

These periods are the busiest times for paediatric services, when there are limited services for paediatric patients elsewhere in the community.

“The fact of the matter is the City of Windsor does not have an urgent care clinic which is serviced by paediatricians,” said WRH Chief of Paediatric Medicine, Dr. Sajit Augustine. “So there's certainly a need.”

Augustine added, “The funding allows us to provide dedicated rapid assessment by a pediatrician, which benefits our paediatric patients and supports our emergency department.”

Over the last fiscal year (April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023), WRH saw approximately 95,000 emergency department visits, with approximately 10,000 to 12,000 of those being paediatric patients.

“By running this weekend’s after hours’ clinic, we hope to see around 2, 000 to 2,500 children in this clinic alone. That will be 30 per cent of what you would typically see in emergency departments, so 30 per cent would be taken off their plates,” Augustine explained.

During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, WRH operated a stand-alone clinic focused on paediatric patients needing care for respiratory issues. This service was called the Paediatric Urgent Medical Assessment (PUMA) clinic.

“COVID certainly prompted us to think of out of the box ways to mitigate ED overcrowding and to provide timely and convenient care to the children in the community who would typically come to the ED looking for a paediatrician,” explained Augustine.

As they prepared for this fall and winter season, WRH worked with Ontario Health to tailor a modified program to meet the current needs of the paediatric population.

The new service will see patients under the age of 17 triaged in the emergency department who meet specific clinical criteria. If they meet the criteria, they’ll be quickly assessed by an ED provider before being brought to a dedicated space on the pediatric unit at Met Campus.

 “The hope is that by the time they walk into the doors of the emergency department, they get to see a pediatrician within the first 40 minutes,” Augustine added.

They will be treated by a specialized team including a pediatrician and pediatric nurse, supported by diagnostic imaging and lab services.

The Paediatric Emergency Diversion Service is set to go live at Met Campus on Sept. 8.