Children's Hospitals Today - Fall 2021 - 19

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all of us, and it really deepened the sense of community
among health care providers. That was also the time when
our relationship with Baptist Health became even closer
and our partnership more urgent. "
Placing Nicklaus Children's physicians in Baptist Health
pediatric emergency departments in Miami-Dade
was the first phase of the collaboration. As the global
pandemic progressed, both parties decided to implement
procedures to bring children who needed pediatric
emergency care requiring a hospital admission to Nicklaus
Children's Hospital. That enabled Baptist Health to turn
pediatric beds into adult COVID-19 beds, which were
urgently needed.
March 1, 2020
" As we prepared for the anticipated surge of COVID-19,
we knew our capacity of hospital beds, staff and supplies
would be strained. As we addressed the situation quickly,
the collaboration allowed us to better utilize our resources, "
says Bo Boulenger, president and chief operations
officer for Baptist Health South Florida. " Through this partnership
and our long-standing relationship with Nicklaus
Children's, we collaborated to provide excellent care for
both our pediatric and adult patients. "
" I am still stunned by the speed at which we pulled off
this partnership, " says Love. " On March 1, 2020, Florida
saw its first positive COVID-19 case. On March 11, we
had the first confirmed case in Miami, and on April 1,
the collaboration between Baptist Health and Nicklaus
Children's started. We all knew this was a critical time in
South Florida and we had to act quickly. "
The partnership is still in place today and has been
a successful model for both organizations. Nicklaus
Children's and Baptist Health were among the first health
care systems in the nation to collaborate to enhance
pediatric emergency care by staffing pediatric emergency
departments at a primarily adult health system with
physicians from a pediatric health system. In 2020, more
than 1,000 children were transferred from Baptist Health's
emergency departments to Nicklaus Children's, with many
more in 2021.
" We were incredibly lucky to have had the first phase of
this partnership in place just as the pandemic hit, " says
Love. " This enabled both organizations to do what they
do best-Baptist Health took care of the many adult
COVID-19 patients who needed immediate high-quality
care while we at Nicklaus Children's took care of children
First COVID-19 patients in Florida
March 11, 2020
First COVID-19 patient in Miami-Dade
April 1, 2020
Partnership between Baptist Health
and Nicklaus Children's began
who needed emergency care that required a hospital
admission, whether COVID-19-related or not. "
As COVID-19 cases rise again in Florida and the nation,
driven by the Delta variant, the partnership is proving
to be effective and successful. Both Baptist Health and
Nicklaus Children's are well positioned to efficiently care
for adult and pediatric patients who are affected by this
more transmissible variant of COVID-19.
To learn more about Nicklaus Children's and the
organization's partnerships, visit nicklauschildrens.org
http://www.nicklauschildrens.org
Children's Hospitals Today - Fall 2021

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