Dive Brief:
- Soon after the U.S. found itself managing multiple ebola cases in 2014, the CDC designated 55 hospitals across the country to prepare to serve as future Ebola treatment centers, including several children's hospitals.
- Texas Children's Hospital in Houston is soon to unveil a newly constructed biocontainment wing with eight beds, as well as a separate area with 10 regular beds.
- The project cost $16 million and was covered by the hospital's capital funds and $1 million in donations.
Dive Insight:
The new hospital wing represents a leap in pediatric preparedness for Ebola or other major illnesses such as TB, MERS, bird flu or something unidentified.
"A year ago in the United States, there were only twelve beds for the entire country for patients that had a need to be isolated in a biocontainment unit," Dr. Judith Campbell, medical director for infection control and prevention at Texas Children's Hospital told Houston Public Media. "And, not surprisingly, zero of those beds were designated for children."
The rooms in the biocontainment unit each include an antechamber for providers to don protective gear and an exit room for removing said gear. The unit includes its own biosafety laboratory, medical waste room, and showers for medical staff.
Kids in the unit will be able to see family through windows and communicate via tablets, and will get a doll that wears a biocontainment suit just like their caregivers.
