Owen Collins entered this world earlier than expected and experienced a life-threatening illness at just two months of age due to Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). Admitted to the critical care unit at Carle Foundation Hospital, he was eventually placed on a ventilator for a year.
His mother, Brooke Bohlen, said Owen was in an area of the hospital where adult patients and pediatric patients shared the same floor for intensive care. That was seven years ago.
Over his short life, Owen’s health challenges meant many return visits to the Urbana hospital, but in more recent visits his family experienced the expanded quality of care of the newly formed Children’s Institute at Carle Foundation Hospital. Whether it is children needing total breathing support, intense medications or care for organ dysfunction, a team of highly trained nurses and providers are there to support the most complex cases. A wide range of specialties, including cardiology, neurology, psychiatry and surgery are available to pediatric patients of all ages and stages of illness.
Bohlen said her son, Owen, takes three different seizure medications, uses braces and a walker and needs help eating, but he is a happy child with lots of support at school in Mahomet.
“I would take him back to Carle over any hospital in the area,” Bohlen said. During early hospital admissions, Owen received intensive care services on a floor that included adults and patients with a wide range of needs. Because care for children is much different than taking care of adults, Carle leaders knew a dedicated pediatric space was necessary. Bohlen said she appreciates the change.
Shaylee Hayes, RN, Pediatrics manager, said, “It has been great seeing how far the unit and all of our children’s services has come.”
Viewing the children’s institute through two lenses – mother and nurse - Amanda Upton, RN, Family
Medicine, Carle Foundation Hospital, said her son, River, celebrated his first birthday in September. In 2023, however, he spent eight days inside what was then called the Pediatric Critical Care Center at the hospital after enduring acute respiratory failure due to RSV.
“They eased our worries and anxieties,” Upton said. The first doctor and nurses he saw kept circling back to see how their patient was, even though other providers were seeing him as well over the eight days and that brought reassurance regarding her son’s continuity of care, she said.
Plus, there was family support such as staying in the same room as the child and having his special baby formula available.
“Not only do we have top-notch pediatric critical care services, but all of our women’s and children’s services have undergone improvements and increased quality measures to offer families advanced, specialized care right here in our community. Our staff is the best of the best at supporting families within the hospital during very trying times,” Tracy Brown, MBA, BSN, RN, director, Inpatient Women & Children’s Services said.
Carle Foundation Hospital is one of just three downstate hospitals and 11 statewide that hold the prestigious designation of Pediatric Critical Care Center. The designation from the Illinois Department of Public Health is based on validation of achieving quality metrics for readiness in emergency, critical and specialty care for children.
The Children's Institute at Carle Foundation Hospital offers exceptional care for children from the simplest needs to the most complex. Through a wide range of inpatient, outpatient and multidisciplinary clinics, pediatric care with an exceptional experience is close to home in central Illinois. To learn more, go to carle.org.
Categories: Culture of Quality, Community
Tags: children, hospitalization, ICU, NICU, pediatrics