Nevada’s Pediatric Hospital Beds Are at Maximum

NEVADA – The Nevada Hospital Association said Thursday that more kids are getting sick with RSV and other respiratory illnesses, filling up hospital beds for kids.

Last week, hospitals all over the Las Vegas Valley said that their children’s wards were full or getting full and that respiratory syncytial virus was to blame. They said they were making room in other places for the new people.

This week, there are no empty beds for children, and all of the beds in pediatric intensive care are taken. The association says that 18% of pediatric hospital admissions are due to RSV and 4% are due to COVID-19.

RSV is a common illness that affects the lungs. It usually causes cold-like symptoms, but babies and young children can get very sick from it. Across most of the country, more cases are being reported than is normal for this time of year.

People are also getting sick with the flu in hospitals. The hospital association doesn’t keep track of how old these people are.

Nevada has 118 licensed beds for children in its south and 21 in its north. The south has 70 licensed beds for intensive care for children and the north has 21.

In a weekly report, the association said, “This means that even small changes in the number of pediatric patients can cause big changes in pediatric occupancy rates.”

The association said, “Hospitals can handle the influx of pediatric patients, and their internal ways of dealing with capacity issues are working right now.” “Shortages of staff in pediatric specialties like nursing, intensive care, and respiratory therapy have been reported all over the country, including in Nevada.”

Credits: Review Journal