New Children's ER to Open at Lehigh Valley Hospital Cedar Crest

Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in Salisbury Township will open the region's first children's emergency room later this week.

Dr. Ron Swinfard, president and chief executive officer of Lehigh Valley Health Network, said the new Children’s ER will become a “beacon” for people seeking emergency medical care for their children.

“It will change the perception of what a child’s visit to the ER is like, and will give our children the level of emergency care they deserve,” Swinfard said.

The idea behind the Children’s ER was to create an anxiety-free environment for children, who often feel frightened and overwhelmed by chaotic emergency rooms, filled with adults and strange sights, sounds and smells. 

Officials from the hospital opened the facility to the press Monday afternoon.

The 12-bed children's ER will be part of the regular emergency room but have a separate waiting area for children that is designed to alleviate children's anxiety of being sick and in a hospital, according to hospital spokesman Brian Downs.

"Doctors will tell you, treating little kids is not like treating little adults," Downs said. "Everyone comes in scared."

One way of alleviating children's anxiety when they come to a hospital is by separating them from older, sick adults, which can be frightening to children who are already scared and in an alien environment, he said.

Dr. Andrew Miller, the medical director of the Children's ER, said the new facility was designed through the eyes of a child. The first thing children will notice in the waiting room is a seven-foot tall toy Ferris wheel, donated by Toy Magic which used to have a store in Bethlehem.. 

LVH's new 7,000 square-foot Children's ER has its own waiting room, which helps eliminate the stress children feel when among sick and injured adults, he said.

“Board-certified pediatric emergency medicine physicians will care for children with serious illnesses and injuries. It’s rare to find a physician who specializes in this area of care,” said Dr. Rick MacKenzie, chair of emergency medicine.

The special care extends beyond the physical environment, but will attend to special psycho-social and medical needs of children in an ER.  The unit will be staffed with specialists in pediatrics. Children, who are often terrified of needles, will be given special treatments to lessen their fear, which could include the use nitrous oxide or special creams, Downs said.

The need for a special children's ER in the region has been growing, he said.  About 15,000 children visit Lehigh Valley Hospital's emergency room, and that number is expected to double in the next few years, Downs said.  The closest children's ER has been in Philadelphia.

Lehigh Valley Hospital's children's ER will be open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., the prime time when children use the ER, Downs said.

Speakers expected at Monday's press conference are Lehigh Valley Health Network president and chief executive officer Dr. Ronald Swinfard,  Dr. Rick MacKenzie, chair of emergency medicine and Dr. Andrew Miller, Children's ER medical director.