Pediatric HOSPITAL RESOURCES

Each year, more than 500,000 children in Texas need medical care that requires hospitalization. 24 For families in Northeast Texas, this often means seeking care far from home and being displaced from their support systems due to lack of pediatric hospital infrastructure in their communities. According to the 2020 DSHS-AHATHA Annual Survey of Hospitals, only 10 counties in the 42-county region of Northeast Texas have pediatric inpatient hospital bed capacity. Throughout the region, there are a total of 109 pediatric inpatient beds. This constitutes 3.4% of the state’s pediatric bed capacity for the 6.1% of Texas children living in the area. 25

Pediatric Hospital CAPACITY

109 2,524 0 612

Within the 42-county region, there are no pediatric intensive care beds. 25 Any child in Northeast Texas needing intensive care services must be transferred out of the region to receive care. A 2021 analysis published in Pediatrics concludes that trends in closing rural hospital pediatric units and consolidating pediatric intensive care services to large children’s hospitals has reduced access to care for children in rural areas disproportionately. 26

Because of a lack of inpatient, critical care and subspecialists available in the Northeast Texas area, ill children often require emergent transfer to tertiary care centers more than 100 miles away. When transfers are needed, they often take six to eight hours to complete based on bed availability at accepting hospitals and transport team availability. These delays in care can be devastating for Northeast Texas children.

Pediatric HOSPITAL RESOURCES

CONT.

While transfer data is not available for the entire region, information from CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances Hospital in Tyler and UT Health East Texas provide a picture of the impact of a lack of pediatric hospital and subspecialty care in the largest city in the region. In 2022, these hospitals transferred 938 children to hospitals outside of the region because they did not have the necessary subspecialist, intensive care or monitoring capabilities that the children needed. 27,28 Given that these numbers do not include many hospitals in the region (many of which have no or limited pediatric bed availability), the actual number of families affected by medical transfers is likely much higher. Not only do transfer delays impact children’s health, but these families also experience significant financial hardship and stress. They are often separated from their family and support systems in order to access needed care for one of their children.