Seattle Children’s emergency department sees ‘unprecedented demand,’ long wait times
Sep. 27, 2022 at 9:00 am Updated Sep. 27, 2022 at 8:02 pm
By Amanda Zhou
Seattle Times staff reporter
Seattle Children’s Hospital is seeing “unprecedented demand” in its emergency department, creating long wait times and forcing providers to see some patients with non-life threatening illnesses in the waiting room, said Seattle Children’s Emergency Medicine medical director Tony Woodward.
After an initial lull at the start of the pandemic, Woodward said the hospital has seen a steady increase of patients to the point that patient volumes have now eclipsed their previous high in 2019.
“On a day by day basis, we’re busier than we’ve ever been,” he said.
The demand is being driven by many community pediatrician offices being strained by already full loads or staffing shortages as well as an influx of viral-related illness associated with the fall and cold weather like the flu, he said...