The state of Illinois designated Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana as a Pediatric Critical Care Center this month, which made Carle only one of 11 in Illinois.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) selected Carle based on their criteria in a hospital's readiness in providing emergency, critical, and specialty care for children.
The IDPH has three levels of facility designation that relate to children who arrive at emergency departments; Carle being a Pediatric Critical Center that specializes in pediatric inpatient services and pediatric intensive care, said Carle Quality Outcomes Coordinator Sheila Curtis.
Carle Foundation Hospital provides 24 hour care and overnight stays, pediatric hospitalists and intensivists that can perform endocrinology, neurology, cardiology, and surgery services to young patients if needed, and social workers and Child Life Specialists meant to support families during their time at the hospital, said Carle Hospital.
The COVID-19 epidemic made the need for a separate unit more obvious with an influx of acute patients, so Carle Foundation Hospital opened their pediatic intensive care unit (PICU) in June 2020 and became the region's only PICU with respiratory staff and physicians.
This title recognizes all the work Carle Hospital has done in providing the highest level of care for children as well as their dedication to improving pediatric care in Illinois said IDPH Director Sameer Vohra, MD.
This honor is a big acheivement for Carle Health as it recognizes their long-term goal of serving proper care for families throughout the community and surrounding regions.