Sioux Falls is now home to the state's first emergency department designed for children. The David H. and Christine Billion Pediatric Emergency Department at Sanford Health is open for patients today.
Dr. Donald Ellis was one of the first pediatric emergency physicians at the Sanford USD Medical Center, where the new ER is located. He said before the dedicated department, his team typically had four rooms set aside in the existing emergency department adjacent to the new space. Now, they have ten beds and much more flexibility. The increased capacity isn't the only benefit.
"From the colors of the walls to the equipment inside, how we secure that equipment—all that has been designed with children in mind," Dr. Ellis said. "There's no other space like that in North or South Dakota."
The new space also means new equipment. Dr. Ellis highlights a video laryngoscopy.
"You use a piece of equipment to look in someone's airways," he explained. "It puts it on the screen so that not only can the medical provider, the doctor, see the person's airway, but also the other teammates can see that as well. That is great when you're performing a critical procedure on somebody to keep them breathing. And we have one of the nicest pieces of video laryngoscopy equipment I've ever seen in my life."
The new space also offers two behavioral health rooms for pediatric patients in a mental health crisis.
Dr. Ellis said Sanford has also invested in pediatric nurses with additional experience at the Sanford Children's Hospital. That can help provide a smooth transition if a child is transferred from the ER to the hospital.
The pediatric emergency department begins accepting patients on Jan. 5.
To hear Dr. Ellis's conversation with SDPB's Jackie Hendry, click the audio link above.
