Condell debuts Lake Co.'s first pediatric emergency department

Jason Felger rushed to the hospital when his wife called to say their son nearly drowned in Libertyville's Adler Pool.

The Round Lake Park resident, who's new to the area, was relieved to know his 6-year-old, Glenn, was taken to Condell Medical Center's new pediatric emergency room.

"It makes me comforted to know that it's here, and to know it's designed just for this," Felger said from his son's hospital bedside.

The Libertyville hospital opened a temporary pediatric emergency room last week with three board-certified pediatric emergency medicine physicians and four specially-trained nurses treating minor illnesses to major traumas in newborns through teens.

It accommodates seven beds separated by curtains. In its first week, the department averaged 25 patients per day. The facility has the capacity to treat 40 children daily, officials said.

Condell's new pediatric emergency department is a first for Lake County. Its permanent home is under construction as part of Condell's $23.5 million expansion of its regular emergency department, to be completed by next spring.

None of the other five Lake County hospitals have separate pediatric emergency departments, though most have regular emergency rooms certified by the state to provide pediatric care and have pediatricians on staff.

For instance, Lake Forest Hospital now has five pediatricians from Chicago's Children's Memorial Hospital on-site 24 hours a day to provide consultations to emergency room doctors.

"The emergency room doctors are good at seeing many children, but when they have a more acutely-ill child, they will consult us," said Virginia Kaperick, who helped start Lake Forest Hospital's nine-year-old pediatric program. "You definitely need to have the equipment, the training, the supplies needed to take care of pediatric patients in any hospital."

Yet, pediatric emergency rooms are the growing trend, especially among community-based hospitals, said Charles Nozicka, Condell's new pediatric emergency medical director.

Nozicka helped develop similar departments at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, St. Alexius Medical Center in Hoffman Estates and Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove Village.

"Now it's becoming more of a standard," he said.

The biggest difference between traditional hospital emergency rooms certified to provide pediatric care and Condell's pediatric emergency room is its physicians have more critical care training in pediatrics, Nozicka said.

"We are more familiar with chronic medical problems that are a little bit more complicated than the usual childhood emergencies," he said. "The development of pediatric emergency medicine is just a natural progression. It's not an us versus them. We all work together."

The other difference is Condell's permanent pediatric emergency department is designed to be more kid-friendly, and will have a separate waiting area for children.

"They will be segregated right from the beginning from adults," Nozicka said. "Parents like this type of care. Adults like it too because they are not sitting next to a crying child."

Condell's pediatric emergency department will have 10 individual hospital rooms with televisions, video games, that will be aesthetically and functionally tailored for children.

"It looks more like a bedroom than a hospital (room)," Nozicka said. "(Regular) emergency rooms are noisy and scary. It's a nicer environment for them."