This morning we had the amazing opportunity to visit CHOC’s new emergency room. Thankfully, it wasn’t because of a mishap by my munchkins, but in celebration of the opening of Orange County’s first fully pediatric-dedicated emergency department. I decided to make it a fun learning experience for my kids since I had already toured the new Bill Holmes Tower previously (Link to previous visit to Bill Holmes Tower).
The 22,000 square foot facility has 31 treatment rooms with capacity to add more in the future. Honoring CHOC’s commitment to patient and family centered care, the department’s exam rooms are spacious and can accommodate family members and strollers. Also, family members may stay with their child continuously to help make treatment decisions.
With three triage suites, the department is structured for expedient triage, rapid diagnosis and treatment to streamline each patient’s visit. In fact, we got to see this first hand!!! Choco, CHOC’s adorable mascot took a tumble and ended up being the first patient admitted into the ER. Thank goodness his injuries weren’t too bad, and he made it through the ER rather quickly as he was able to give out hugs right after the ribbon cutting ceremony.
As a first response pediatric emergency department, the facility will receive critically ill children by ambulance. An ambulance bay can accommodate up to four emergency vehicles at once and children can also arrive by helicopters that can land either on CHOC’s two rooftop heliports. The kids were really excited to see an ambulance up close and personal! Again, Mama was thankful it was a fun experience rather than a medical necessity!
I have friends who have children that are undergoing treatment at CHOC, and have told me how wonderful and dedicated their staff. This morning, after the dedication, nurses were coming up and talking to the kids, saying how eager they are that children will be arriving soon. They are missing that interaction. We even got to tour the rooms with one of the doctors. The kids loved him and being able to see what it would be like to be a patient.
Congratulations Orange County – we now have an amazing facility for our youngsters that opens this week!!! And thank you CHOC for inviting us back to the Grand Opening ribbon cutting ceremony.
