2012 Annual Report - Blythedale Children's Hospital

2012 ANNUAL REPORT
Patient Care
Setting the standard for how care is delivered to medically fragile children is central to everything we
do at Blythedale Children’s Hospital. With more than 120 years of experience, Blythedale is a nationally
recognized leader in developing innovative, multidisciplinary inpatient programs. As one of only
19 specialty children’s hospitals in the United States, Blythedale has the combined staff, expertise
and resources – including the largest pediatric therapy department in New York State – to provide
exceptional comprehensive care for medically complex children and support for their families.
Blythedale cares for children with a wide range of complex and often catastrophic medical and
rehabilitative conditions, including complex respiratory disease, traumatic brain injury, heart disease,
cancer, neuromuscular disorders, and other serious genetic conditions.
%
2
19%
Diagnostic Categories
21%
19%
29%
31%
31%
31% General Rehabilitation
29% Ventilator Weaning & Respiratory
21% Neuro TBI/ABI
30%
19% Medically Complex
2012 Highlights
• In November 2012, Blythedale celebrated the
opening of The Stavros Niarchos Foundation
Center for Speech & Audiology. The new 6,000
square foot Center is home to Blythedale’s
comprehensive inpatient and outpatient speech,
hearing and language services, as well as
dedicated assistive technology rooms.
• Blythedale recorded 548 unique patient
admissions in 2012, totaling 28,559 inpatient
days. 60% of Blythedale’s patients were referred
directly from PICUs and NICUs. Approximately
half were admitted for comprehensive acute
inpatient rehabilitation (including recovery
from complicated surgery, multiple trauma,
and rheumatologic crisis), while nearly a third
were admitted for respiratory care or ventilator
weaning. 21% were admitted for neurologic
care, including recovery from traumatic brain
injury and stroke. The Hospital’s average length
of stay was 52 days. The Hospital received
admissions from more than 20 hospitals and
leading academic centers in 2012, including
New York Presbyterian (Columbia and Cornell),
Westchester Medical Center, Montefiore
Medical Center, Steven and Alexandra Cohen
Children’s Medical Center of New York/North
Shore LIJ Health System, Jacobi Medical Center,
NYU/Bellevue and Mount Sinai.
• Last year, Blythedale celebrated the 15th
anniversary of the enormously successful
ventilator-weaning program. To date, more than
1,500 medically fragile infants and children have
been successfully weaned from mechanical
ventilation, and, after six years, 97% of the
children weaned remain ventilator free.
• Blythedale continued contracting with school
districts in the greater metropolitan region to
provide on-site Physical Therapy (21 schools in
10 districts), Occupational Therapy (25 schools
in 6 districts) and Speech Therapy (26 sites in 11
districts) for students. In addition, the Hospital
provided Audiology services in eight schools.
The Hospital’s therapy outsourcing program
serves school districts in Westchester and
Rockland counties.
• Blythedale has a rigorous program for continuous
quality assessment and improvement, and
a focus on best practices. In 2012, our bloodstream
infection rate was zero, as were
incidences of vent-related pneumonia, late-stage
decubitis ulcers and infections pre- and posttransplant.
85% of our patients were discharged
home, and in a Press Ganey survey, 95% of
parents reported that they would recommend
Blythedale Children’s Hospital.