As its latest expansion of pediatric healthcare on the Northshore, St. Tammany Parish Hospital announced that its pediatric emergency room is operating 24 hours per day, seven days per week, 365 days per year.
The 24-hour schedule is coupled with the June opening of a level two pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) staffed by Ochsner Hospital for Children.
“When we first opened the pediatric emergency department in 2017, we went with a 12-hour schedule to be available when parents and children were most commonly coming to seek emergency care,” explained Dr. David Toups, emergency medicine specialist and medical director of emergency services at STPH. “But as our reputation for pediatric expertise has grown and more families are now aware of this dedicated pediatric emergency room, we are expanding the service to operate around the clock.”
Staffed by pediatric and emergency medicine specialists, the 24/7 pediatric emergency room cares for infants to teens in emergent situations and has its own separate waiting space for families with children.
Upstairs, the PICU and inpatient pediatrics unit are staffed by Ochsner Hospital for Children pediatric intensivists, a team with specialized training in caring for patients age 18 and under in need of higher-acuity care.
In addition to these pediatric inpatient resources, outpatient services range from primary pediatrics in Covington, Madisonville, and Mandeville; the Parenting Center; and pediatric certified rehabilitation, to pediatric orthopedics and a multispecialty clinic of pediatric subspecialists from Ochsner Hospital for Children providing a full schedule of appointments in pediatric cardiology, endocrinology, otolaryngology, nutrition, general surgery, gastroenterology, hematology/oncology, plastic surgery (including hand), orthopedics, pulmonology, urology, and other specialties.