On Wednesday, with the help of several children in superhero costumes and area firefighters, officials at CommonSpirit Holy Cross Hospital-Davis cut the ribbon on a new eight-bed inpatient pediatric unit.

CommonSpirit Holy Cross Hospital-Davis President Kyle Brostrom told the Standard-Examiner that the new unit will be able to help youths when they need it the most.

“The types of patients we’ll be able to treat is really any of the kind of the low acuity — not super sick — but kids that just need a little extra help,” he said. “We’re just starting the flu season, cold and respiratory season — and parents will know this really well — but sometimes kids just need a little bit of extra help to get through a severe illness, whether it’s the flu or an asthma exacerbation, or anything else like an infection or something else. So what we are able to offer are 24-7 pediatric specialists in-house that are able to help our littlest patients whenever they need them. And if they need more support, then we can help them find that care as well.”

He said that the hospital — then operating as Davis Hospital and Medical Center — previously hosted a pediatric unit until 2019 when the space was renovated for adult surgical care.

Rob Nielsen, Standard-Examiner

“Two years ago, we recognized the need for inpatient pediatrics at Davis County,” he said. “There really is not another location in this area, and so we got to work figuring out how to reopen the unit. We’re really excited to be able to reopen the pediatric unit and offer that service to our residents of Davis County.”

Brostrom said officials noticed the need for a dedicated inpatient pediatric unit had grown significantly since the hospital had eliminated it.

“About 30% of our ER patients are pediatric patients,” he said. “What we found is not a small number of those patients need to be admitted, and so we were transferring a lot of patients to Salt Lake — a lot of patients that could have easily been cared for with a night or two stay in the hospital. I’m a parent of four boys, that’s a burden to have to travel back and forth and find family arrangements for your kids and everything. So to have the ability to keep that care close to home, it’s a comfort that we can provide that service, but it’s also a comfort to families just logistically. It’s just easier to stay closer to home.”

He noted that the unit has been operating since Oct. 12 with Wednesday marking the public celebration of its establishment.

“Our community pediatricians have given us tremendous positive feedback about the ability to keep patients close to home,” he said.

Rob Nielsen, Standard-Examiner

The hospital’s new pediatric unit will be overseen by pediatrics hospitalists Dr, Adam Farmer and Dr. Ryan Ericksen.

Brostrom said that the pediatric unit is a possibility because the hospital has great community partners.

“I’m just really grateful for our team, grateful for our tremendous partners,” he said. “Tanner Clinic has been tremendous. That’s the employer of our two pediatric hospitalists, and their partnership has been invaluable in making this happen.”

He said that the best part is being able to return a service to the region that’s been needed for quite some time.

“It’s just really exciting to be able to recognize a need, put the work in to figuring out how to meet that need and to see it all come together today,” he said. “We’re open for business, so it’s exciting.”