Chambersburg Hospital no longer admitting pediatric patients: What to know

If your child comes down with a bad case of the flu this winter and needs to be hospitalized, it will not be at WellSpan Chambersburg Hospital.

The Franklin County hospital is no longer admitting pediatric patients, effective Friday, Dec. 22. WellSpan Health confirmed the change days before it took effect.

Minors who need to be hospitalized will be transferred to another hospital where a pediatric bed is available. Some pediatric services will continue, including emergency room services.

Patients could be sent to other Pennsylvania hospitals that admit pediatric patients, such as Penn State Health Children's Hospital in Hershey, UPMC Harrisburg or WellSpan York Hospital − all of which are over an hour away from Chambersburg. Meritus Medical Center in Hagerstown, Md., also admits kids.

WellSpan Waynesboro Hospital in Franklin County does not admit minors.

There had been no public announcement about the end of pediatric admissions at Chambersburg Hospital. Wellspan acknowledged the policy change after an employee contacted the Public Opinion.

Why did Chambersburg Hospital stop admitting kids?

Pediatricians from Keystone Health, another healthcare system in Franklin County, were responsible for the care of pediatric inpatients at Chambersburg Hospital.

Those doctors will no longer treat sick kids at the hospital, as Keystone has stopped providing pediatric services there, representatives with Keystone and WellSpan confirmed.

WellSpan also eliminated its pediatric RNs, the nurses responsible for pediatric inpatients. Asked how many employees were affected, WellSpan spokesperson Maggi Barton said they were all moved to other positions in the hospital and no one was left unemployed.

"As pediatric volumes have been low at times, we have trained our pediatric nurses to work in other areas of the hospital so that they may retain full employment. In doing so they can now care for other patients," she said.

The hospital was admitting about 300 kids per year, on average, Barton said. Overall in the hospital, there are about 9,100 annual pediatric "encounters," a term WellSpan uses to account for patients who made multiple visits.

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Will Chambersburg Hospital's ER still treat kids?

Minors will still be treated in the hospital's emergency department, Barton said. WellSpan's emergency physicians lead this care.

If a child needs ongoing treatment, in most cases they would be sent to another facility.

There are some exceptions, though.

Pediatric surgical, orthopedic and ENT (ear, nose, throat) care is still provided at the hospital. This encompasses health issues including dehydration, acute asthma exacerbation, broken bones, croup, and others, Barton said.

Newborns in the hospital's labor and delivery unit will still be treated by Keystone pediatricians. The hospital's neonatal intensive care unit will continue to operate as normal. The Level 2 NICU is "fully equipped and prepared to deliver babies as early as 32 weeks and treatment of mothers with unexpected medical complications," Barton said.

"It is only when these pediatric patients would require a higher level of care that they may be transferred to another facility but rest assured that multiple levels of pediatric care will continue be offered at the hospital," she added.

Keystone Health, a federally funded health system founded in Franklin County, will also continue to treat pediatric patients in other settings.

"Keystone will continue to provide outpatient care to pediatric patients in both Chambersburg and Waynesboro," Lewis said. "Keystone will also continue to provide care at the CASHS School Based Health Center. Keystone plans to provide additional services within our outpatient offices and at the school-based health center during 2024."

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Pediatric hospital care declining across U.S.

The end of pediatric admissions at Chambersburg Hospital is part of a nationwide trend.

Pediatric inpatient capacity is declining around the country, according to a study by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Access to pediatric care has most declined in rural counties.

Between 2008 and 2018, the number of pediatric inpatient units decreased by 19.1%. The number of beds went down 11.8%.

"Nearly one-quarter of U.S. children experienced an increase in distance to their nearest pediatric inpatient unit. Low-volume pediatric units and those without an associated PICU were at highest risk of closing," the study reads.

Looking at a longer time period in more recent years, the number of hospitals offering pediatric services decreased by 32% between 2000 and 2022, The Washington Post reported in late 2022 based on a review of data gathered by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The Post reported: "Over the past two decades, hospital systems across the country have whittled down the supply of pediatric beds, which lose money because they often are unoccupied. Even when they are occupied by sick children, pediatric beds generate less revenue for hospitals than do adult beds, medical experts say."

Amber South can be reached at asouth@publicopinionnews.com.

This article originally appeared on Chambersburg Public Opinion: WellSpan Chambersburg Hospital stops admitting pediatric patients