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Stop the Pediatric Closure at UC Irvine!
Join the hundreds of UC RNs who have already signed!
The University of California just announced they are planning on closing all Pediatric inpatient units at the UC Irvine Medical Center in early 2009 and having the pediatric patients instead treated at the local children’s hospital. There are already too few pediatric beds in southern California, especially with the expected huge increase in the pediatric population in the coming years. There are many times already when CHOC is full, and pediatric patients needing to be admitted are boarded in ERs or admitted to adult units. Southern California’s children cannot afford the loss of another 33 inpatient beds.
The UC Regents are voting on the closure plan this Wednesday. Please register your opposition to the peds closure by signing on to the letter below, which will be sent to UC President Mark Yudof. This will take you less than a minute. Help us protect access to care for our pediatric patients!
| Sample Letter for Campaign |
Subject: Stop the Pediatric Closure at UC Irvine!
Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,
As a Registered Nurse, I strongly oppose UC's planned closure of the 33 Peds and PICU beds at UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange County.
This pediatric closure will delay needed care and jeopardize patient safety for all children in southern California.
There are already many times when pediatric beds are full in Orange County, with pediatric patients waiting in Emergency Departments or being admitted to adult hospital units.
I strongly urge you to re-consider this decision.
Thank you,
Signed by:
, RN
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Campaign Launched:
November 17, 2008
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UCI Medical Center plans to reduce pediatric care
By Paloma Esquivel and Kimi Yoshino
Los Angeles Times
November 13, 2008
The hospital aims to eliminate 25 pediatric beds and transfer in-patient services to Children's Hospital of Orange County.
UCI Medical Center plans to eliminate its 25 pediatric beds early next year and transfer in-patient services to the Children's Hospital of Orange County, a proposal criticized by some politicians and protested by hospital nurses at a noon rally Wednesday outside the facility.
The UC Board of Regents is scheduled to vote on the plan Wednesday at a meeting in San Francisco. If approved, the hospital's pediatric beds will be converted to adult beds to help handle high demand for those services. At the same time, the eight-bed pediatric intensive care unit will be absorbed into its regular intensive care services.
A decision to eliminate pediatric beds would mark the second time in less than a year that an Orange County hospital shifted its inpatient care for children to Children's Hospital. In April, Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach closed its nine pediatric beds.
The shift of care concerns Yolanda Jimenez, unit coordinator for UCI's pediatric intensive care unit.
"What's going to happen during flu season? It's already full over there," said Jimenez, who joined in a small protest outside the hospital Wednesday. "It's just going to really impede children's healthcare."
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