New care model to help meet growing need for pediatric care in our community, including pediatric behavioral health emergency care

(Wilmington, Del. – April 27, 2022)

To transform the care of pediatric patients in our community, ChristianaCare will open a Pediatric Care Center in September 2022 that will provide 24/7 combined short-stay inpatient and emergency care. The new center will be located on the first floor of the Center for Women’s & Children’s Health on ChristianaCare’s Newark Campus.

“This new approach to pediatric care will make it easier than ever for families and children to receive excellent care when they need it, in a special space that’s just for them,” said Sharon Kurfuerst, Ed.D., OTR/L, FACHE, system chief operating officer at ChristianaCare.

“Pediatric patients have unique needs. Our new Pediatric Care Center will make it convenient for them to receive dedicated, expert resources for hospital-based, non-trauma emergency and inpatient care all in one location.”

ChristianaCare projects the 24-hour Pediatric Care Center will be able to evaluate and manage 90% of the pediatric cases currently seen in the Christiana Hospital Emergency Department. The center expects to care for an estimated 6,300 patients the first year, with volume projected to grow 5% each year.

The Pediatric Care Center will also provide expert care to children and adolescents with behavioral health emergency needs and provide appropriate referral sources for follow-up care.

“The creation of this new facility is an exciting step in our continued journey to create the absolute best care for children and families,” said David Paul, M.D., chair of the Department of Pediatrics.

“This center will significantly improve access to care for children, enhance the patient experience and enable us to address the needs of families who desire efficient, quality care in a child-friendly environment.”

The 8,400 square-foot facility will provide seven beds for emergency care and seven beds for short-stay inpatient and observation care. Locating these spaces next to each other will create operational efficiencies, enabling the same staff to provide 24-hour coverage for both emergency and inpatient care.

The center will be staffed by ChristianaCare pediatric hospitalists, pediatric urgent care physicians and pediatric emergency physicians who have been serving the unique needs of this patient population with expertise for many years.

The medical director of the Pediatric Care Center will be Megan Mickley, M.D., FAAP, FACEP. Dr. Mickley is board certified in both Pediatrics and Pediatric Emergency Medicine and fellowship-trained in both Pediatric Emergency Medicine and Emergency Ultrasound.

Need an expert source? Our Experts, ChristianaCare's expert database, can help you find the right source for your next news story. Request an interview ➜

About ChristianaCare

Headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, ChristianaCare is one of the country’s most dynamic health care organizations, centered on improving health outcomes, making high-quality care more accessible and lowering health care costs. ChristianaCare includes an extensive network of primary care and outpatient services, home health care, urgent care centers, three hospitals (1,430 beds), a freestanding emergency department, a Level I trauma center and a Level III neonatal intensive care unit, a comprehensive stroke center and regional centers of excellence in heart and vascular care, cancer care and women’s health. It also includes the pioneering Gene Editing Institute.

ChristianaCare is nationally recognized as a great place to work, rated by Forbes as the 2nd best health system for diversity and inclusion, and the 29th best health system to work for in the United States, and by IDG Computerworld as one of the nation’s Best Places to Work in IT. ChristianaCare is rated by Healthgrades as one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals and continually ranked among the nation’s best by U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek and other national quality ratings. ChristianaCare is a nonprofit teaching health system with more than 260 residents and fellows. With its groundbreaking Center for Virtual Health and a focus on population health and value-based care, ChristianaCare is shaping the future of health care.

About the Center for Women’s & Children’s Health
The Center for Women’s & Children’s Health, which opened in a state-of-the-art facility in 2020 on ChristianaCare’s Newark campus, represents a new standard of care for our community. It is the region’s only National Community Center of Excellence in Women’s Health and offers innovative, patient-centered care for mothers, babies and families. The center provides private rooms for mothers and families after delivery and is one of the only hospitals in the United States to provide couplet care in the NICU, keeping mother and baby together even if they both require medical care. A new Pediatric Care Center will open in September 2022.

####