This new feature provides patients the following: Visit /emergency to access this interactive tool. Patients and families can now view walk-in wait times and check-in online for both the IU Health North and Riley Hospital emergency departments. What else should patients and their families know about visiting a Riley emergency department? If you are ever on the fence on whether you should go to the emergency room or not, call your child’s primary care doctor. “There’s never a time when the staff at the emergency department would say, ‘You shouldn’t have come to the emergency department.’” He gives examples of pediatric emergencies that require a visit to the emergency department, such as big cuts that likely need stitches, broken bones, or respiratory illness issues. Thompson says if a parent perceives an emergency, that is the time to come. When should a parent bring their child to the emergency department?Īlways trust your gut. No, this expansion does not change anything for the downtown Riley location. Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health remains Indiana’s only Level I Pediatric Trauma Center available to care for the most highly complex emergencies and provide 24/7 subspecialty care. Does this change anything for the downtown Riley location? A Riley doctor is always available in the hospital 24/7 to help direct care, along with a pediatric nurse, a child life specialist, and a pediatric respiratory therapist. If families need to bring their child to the emergency department during off-hours, they can still expect the same care and attention from a highly skilled staff cross-trained in pediatric protocols ready to provide care for your child. Since July 1st, 70% of pediatric visits have been cared for during this timeframe. Thompson, this is the most common time for pediatric visits to the emergency room. Riley Emergency Medicine physicians are onsite from 2 pm to 11 pm seven days a week. What days and hours is this service available? What if we need to bring a child in during off-hours? A pediatric nurse, a child life specialist, and a pediatric respiratory therapist will also be available to provide the best care for patients.
How many pediatric doctors will be on staff in the emergency medicine department?Įach day, there will be one pediatric emergency doctor at the IU Health North location and in total, there are ten doctors that will rotate between Riley Hospital downtown and IU Health North. If and when a patient needs to be seen downtown, our team can stabilize, transfer and admit the patient to the right department at Riley Hospital for Children downtown. Thompson says, “Parents can expect, for the vast majority of reasons they may go to the emergency department for, that they have access to the same level of care and expertise as our downtown hospital.” Specifically, there are rooms just for pediatric patients in the emergency department to help decrease wait and provide a supportive environment for families. What can a parent expect should they need to take their child to receive pediatric emergency care at IU Health North Hospital?ĭr.
This expansion allows parents an additional access point to the nationally recognized, high-quality care provided by Riley Children’s Health. In this new model of care, parents have access to a Riley pediatric emergency medicine physician, a pediatric-trained nurse, a child life specialist, and a pediatric respiratory therapist during service hours. While IU Health North has always provided great emergency care in the past, this expansion elevates the standard of pediatric care. Starting July 1st, Riley emergency medicine physicians began providing care in the IU Health North Hospital emergency department.
Tell us a little bit about the expansion of pediatric services at IU Health North Hospital.
Sean Thompson is the Medical Director of Emergency Medicine for Riley Children’s Health at IU Health North, and we spoke with him recently about expanded pediatric services that are now available on the Northside. At IU Health North Hospital, Riley Children’s Health doctors and nurses are available to provide emergency care for your child in a convenient location. Parents living on or near the Northside of Indianapolis now have an option to receive the most highly skilled emergency care close to home.