Rutland (Vt.) Regional Medical Center is closing its five licensed pediatric beds within the Women’s and Children’s Unit as part of a broader transition in service delivery, according to an Oct. 29 news release shared with Becker’s.
The community hospital plans to phase out its inpatient pediatric beds, citing a nationwide decline in the number of children requiring hospital stays longer than 24 hours. Hospital leaders said most young patients now receive care through emergency visits, outpatient clinics or short observation stays, and that at Rutland Regional, nearly two-thirds go home within a day, and the pediatric beds are unoccupied nearly half the time.
In response, the hospital’s redesign will focus on outpatient and short-stay pediatric care.
Rutland Regional’s emergency department will have several rooms prioritized for young patients needing observation, and adolescent patients who meet certain criteria will receive care in other inpatient units, hospital leaders said. Same-day and short-stay care will continue through outpatient and surgical services.
Hospital leaders said transfers for higher-level pediatric care will occur to regional partners such as the Burlington-based University of Vermont Medical Center. Rutland Regional is also working to include Lebanon, N.H.-based Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center under pediatric patient transfer agreements. In some cases, the UVM Health Critical Care Transport Team will be responsible for transporting emergent pediatric patients.
Rutland Regional leaders said the hospital’s care coordination and social work teams will also continue partnering with the Visiting Nurse Association, Community Health and the Department for Children and Families to ensure smooth care coordination.
“Rutland Regional remains committed to the health and well-being of our community’s children,” Judi Fox, CEO of Rutland Regional, said in the release. “This change allows us to continue offering excellent pediatric care while demonstrating our commitment to affordability, expanding access, and delivering high-quality care. It reflects our response to the evolving needs of patients today, as we move toward fewer hospital stays and more outpatient and community-based care options.”
The closure of the pediatric beds, which does not require layoffs, is expected to take effect Dec. 21, though the formal review process may delay implementation, Ms. Fox said, according to VTDigger.
Rutland Regional is a 145-bed hospital with approximately 1,700 employees.
