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Dayton Children’s to take adult patient transfers to assist with COVID-19 hospitalization surge

DAYTON — Dayton Children’s Hospital will begin accepting adult patients up to age 35 that are transferred from adult hospitals that fit healthcare needs that Dayton Children’s staff can treat, the hospital system announced Tuesday.

The move is part of a coronavirus surge plan that News Center 7 first reported on in April.

“Eight months ago, Dayton Children’s began a surge plan in the event that our area hospitals became overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients and we needed to accept adult patients to support the surge volume,” the hospital said. “COVID cases at that time remained low, and the plan simply sat on a shelf. In recent weeks, COVID cases in our community have dramatically spiked. Weeks ago, our adult partners had roughly two dozen hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Today, those numbers have increased almost ten-fold, and they are nearly at capacity.”

Dayton Children’s will not be treating adults with a primary COVID-19 diagnosis.

Parents of teens and adults up to age 21 also are encouraged to use Dayton Children’s for emergency and urgent care services whenever possible to reduce strain on adult hospitals.

“If helping them allows our neighbors, our friends, our coworkers or our family members to be treated in a hospital instead of a created space such as the Dayton Convention Center, then we are all-in. Our community is calling; we must answer the call,” said Dr. Adam Mezoff, Chief Medical Officer for Dayton Children’s.




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