Throughout the pandemic, the emergency room has in many ways mirrored the rest of our community and nation. Toward the beginning of the pandemic, fewer children and families sought help from the emergency room for medical or psychiatric reasons, preferring to stay at home and waiting to see what will come. The children who did arrive for help seemed to be more acute, like they had tried to “wait it out” from home, but simply couldn’t. Later, as COVID continue to spread in waves upon waves of uncertainty, there seemed to be a shift again in the presentation of children. Not only were children presenting more acutely, but families and caregivers were burnt out from all the months of trying to hold it all together. As we journey forward into yet another wave of “post-COVID” progress, we are seeing still, high acuity patients, burnt out families, and also medical complications to be expected following this long hibernation as children and families resume more interactive activities. New challenges are opportunities in the emergency room to support children in need of care, families in need of support and respite and our community needing to heal and move forward together. We are working to ensure that patients coming in for behavioral health reasons are treated with dignity and respect as we also treat all children needing emergency care.
Throughout the pandemic, the emergency room has in many ways mirrored the rest of our community and nation.
Pamela Hoffman, MD