Story by Lauryn Lovett
Cover photo by Meredith Fitch
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Children’s hospitals are seen as a beacon of hope for families that need care. But throughout North Carolina many of these hospitals are operating at or near capacity constantly, which can greatly impact whether or not a child is able to receive the care they need.
NAT: “Head’s up, head’s up.” Basketball bouncing.
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13-year-old Lee Fitch suffered a traumatic brain injury almost three years ago.
Meredith Fitch, Lee’s Mom
“He had a collapsed lung, broken ribs, broken vertebrae. The socket of his eye was all the bones here were broken.”
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Luckily, he was able to get treatment at UNC Children’s Hospital, but they couldn’t help with everything.
Meredith Fitch, Lee’s Mom
“We thought that UNC Children’s did it all. We have like this amazing Cancer Hospital. We assumed that the Children’s Hospital was the same and we could do everything.”
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The Fitches had to travel out of state for Lee to get rehabilitated.
NAT: “Now we’re going to go back to your room and do a couple of balance things in your room ok.”
Meredith Fitch, Lee’s Mom
“It was extremely alarming to learn that, you know, it was there’s such a deficit.”
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Dr. Benny Joyner is the Chief of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine at UNC Children’s. He says overcrowding is cyclical.
Benny Joyner, Chief of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine
“Sometimes we’ll say we have ten beds. We have 20 cases. The math doesn’t work out.”
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He says when this happens non-emergency cases like elective surgeries have to be pushed back.
Benny Joyner, Chief of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine
“Please be aware. It’s not up to me to decide which cases should go forward. But please have these conversations the night before instead of the morning of with your families to say, hey, we’re really busy right now.”
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While the number of beds in North Carolina sometimes fall short…UNC Health has announced plans for a new free-standing children’s hospital. The first in the state. Dr. Stephanie Duggins-Davis the Chair of the Department of Pediatrics says this will create hundreds of new beds and a hotel for family to stay close by.
Stephanie Duggins-Davis, Department of Pediatrics Chair
Take sot: “North Carolina is third in terms of how fast our population is growing, and that is a lot of young families. And so, because of that, we need to be ready.”
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Since returning from Atlanta…the Fitches have been collecting money to establish a rehab for the children’s hospital.
Meredith Fitch, Lee’s Mom
“They’ve already been able to hire more employees, more doctors, more therapists, more coordinators…and with the new children’s hospital that’s going to be built in 8 to 10 years, we hope, if not sooner, the pediatric rehab will be part of that new hospital.”
TRACK:
Dr. Davis says while the hospital won’t be built for another 7 to 8 years…doctors are focusing on how to treat children as close to home as possible. In Chapel Hill…Lauryn Lovett reporting.
TRT: 2:28
