February 11, 2008

CENSUS AT DAYTON CHILDREN’S SPIKES: About three weeks ago, we began to see a dramatic increase in the number of influenza isolates and a steady rise in the number of RSV isolates.  Of note, the CDC recently reported that as many as 40 percent of influenza isolates this year are strains of influenza A and B that are dissimilar from the vaccine strains.  As you know, the decision to incorporate specific strains is made in the late winter, of the preceding winter.  This may explain the observation by some clinicians that they are seeing significant numbers of immunized individuals who have clinical influenza.

The impact of this is that we are seeing dramatically more patients, both in the outpatient setting and the inpatient units.  The emergency department has seen over 2,275 patients in the first 10 days of February, while the two urgent care centers have seen 1,150 more patients.  The average inpatient daily census has exceeded 100 children with several days at or above 110 patients.  The inpatient generalist team has activated the "purple" team, the third inpatient attending coverage.  This patient load carries over to every area in the hospital from the lab to pharmacy to dietary.

We ask for your patience during this very busy time.  Please advise families that our staff is trying to provide care as quickly and as efficiently as possible.  However, there may be times when there are delays discharging a child, turning over a room or getting orders written.  You can help by explaining to families how busy it is and that we are working together to care for their children.

We expect that the current influenza outbreak will last an additional six weeks.  Predictably we will then see at least four to six more weeks of endemic disease due to RSV.  Please note we have also implemented visitation guidelines for family members.  When we see these kinds of respiratory pathogens and when the census grows, it become increasingly difficult to accommodate unlimited visitation.  Thank you for your help and patience.  Questions?  Call Tom Murphy, MD, at 937-641-5871.

GASTROENTEROLOGY AND LIPID DEPARTMENT: The gastroenterology and lipid department at Dayton Children’s will begin incorporating electronic health records on March 5, 2008. We have been preparing for this over the past six months and are hopeful the transition will go smoothly.  Electronic health records will allow us to take better care of our patients and help us improve the timeliness and quality of our communications with you. We have had to temporarily decrease the normal amount of patients we see in clinic in order to allow the physicians and staff to become comfortable using our new system in an efficient and timely manner. We will make every effort to ensure this does not significantly impact our accessibility. If you have any concerns or issues please contact Adam Mezoff, MD, through his office coordinator at 937-641-3090, option 4, then 1. 

Thank you for your continued referrals and the opportunity to help care for your patients.