kosair charities pediatric convalescent center
Since the Kosair Charities Pediatric Convalescent
Center (KCPCC) opened in 1975, medical diagnoses
and technology advancements have come a long
way.
Children used to come to us with less than nine
medical diagnoses. Now, we are home to 76
children, each of whom have as few diagnoses as
15 or as many as 24.
The KCPCC is our pediatric skilled nursing facility,
providing short-term, long-term, and respite care for
children from birth to age 21. We care for children
who face significant medical, developmental,
and physical disabilities, many of whom require
ventilator support.
The increase in diagnoses has changed the way we
provide care to children in the KCPCC. It requires
more education, hands-on training, detailed time
management, and prioritization.
Many diagnoses of the past were a bit more
straightforward than what doctors are seeing now.
With more symptoms to treat, our medical teams
figure out which body systems are involved, how
many external specialists play a role in treatment,
and how to address each symptom without
negatively impacting other areas of the body.
Even ten years ago, many children in the KCPCC
may not have survived their medical conditions
or life-altering accidents. But medical advances
have extended their lives and allow most to reach
adulthood.
“We have a lot of patients from birth who’ve had
medical problems, but we’re also seeing another
population of kids who were typically developing
until the time of an incident,” said Dr. Heather Huxol,
Medical Director of KCPCC. “And that population
has grown a lot.”
The complexity of care has increased for our
medical team over the years. The medical acuity
level is higher, requiring more immediate nursing
attention, respiratory intervention, physician
services, pharmaceutical prescriptions, and time
spent with families to plan for any potential illness
or situation that may arise.
“We have kids who are turning 21, whose parents
start planning for their futures years before that
milestone birthday,” explained Erika Rhodes,
Medical Social Services Manager. “They aren’t
accepted by other facilities because the majority of
these facilities have not seen such complex medical
diagnoses. The next place for them to go is an adult
nursing home, where there is not a doctor on site
all day every day, and they can’t provide the level of
care the young adult is used to receiving.”
The increase in diagnoses and work has been a
challenge, but one the KCPCC team has risen to.
“We have a physician on site five days a week.
She is also always on call. We have respiratory
therapists in-house 24/7. We have more registered
nurses, licensed practical nurses, and certified
nursing assistants than the average nursing facility,”
shared KCPCC Jeff Lewis, Senior Vice President
and Administrator.
“We provide more training and education about
the different and new diagnoses we are seeing
to learn how to safely and affectively manage the
needs of the residents. When we discover a new
diagnosis that we haven’t seen before, our training
department leads in-services to educate our team
on what to look for and how to manage these new
diagnoses.”
While the needs of the residents in the Kosair
Charities Pediatric Convalescent Center may have
increased and grown more complex, the mission
remains the same. We make every day exceptional
for every child.