<< Previous   of   Next >> Dan Bates / The Herald  (click to enlarge) Alex Webster, 12, of Everett eats lunch from his hospital bed at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle on Friday while playing video games.

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Expansion plans Last year, Children’s announced plans for a new, $35 million outpatient pediatric medical center in Snohomish County, which could open by 2012, as part of the organization’s $1 billion, 10-year expansion plan in the Puget Sound region. This includes a major expansion at its main campus in Seattle, which would increase the number of its hospital beds from 250 to 600 over the next 15 to 20 years.

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Hospital bed shortage leaves no room for sick kids

Everett family experiences problem firsthand

By Sharon Salyer, Herald Writer

It didn't take long for Providence Everett Medical Center doctors to realize the seriousness of 12-year-old Alex Webster's condition, and that he needed to be hospitalized Tuesday night.

"He can go downhill, and go downhill fast," said his stepmother, Sara Nakagawa, of Everett.

Alex previously had been diagnosed as a "brittle" Type 1 diabetes patient. Getting sick from common viruses, like the flu or a cold, can trigger a dangerous reaction, Nakagawa said. It can cause his brain to swell, something for which he has been hospitalized four times in the past three years.

So when Alex became so sick to his stomach that he couldn't keep water down, his parents took him to the Everett hospital around 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Generally, patients such as Alex are quickly transferred to Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle, because they specialize in pediatric care.

But Tuesday night, Children's intensive care unit was full.

It took six hours, until 2 a.m. Wednesday, for Alex to be transferred to the pediatric intensive care unit at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle.

"How is it even possible that Children's Hospital has no room for sick children?" Nakagawa asked. "It just boggles my mind."

The family's experience is the latest example of Puget Sound hospitals being jammed to capacity. In mid-February, hospitals throughout Snoho­mish County reported they were brimming with patients. Some patients had to wait, sometimes for hours, for beds to open up. Others were transferred to hospitals outside the county.

Susan Heath, Children's chief nursing officer, said Alex was one of five patients from throughout the Northwest this past week who had to be sent elsewhere because Children's was at capacity.

The other four children went to children's hospitals in Tacoma, Spokane and Portland, Ore.

"Our commitment … is to do everything we can to assure that every child has a bed at our medical center," Heath said. "I can understand a parent's anguish when they want to get their child into our hospital on the rare occasions when we cannot offer a bed."

The problem was caused by the high number of patients from around the Pacific Northwest being treated at Children's. In addition, winter is the time of year when more illnesses require children to be admitted to the hospital, and when more need longer hospital stays, she said.

The number of patients being treated at Children's emergency room increased 20 percent in January over the same period last year, said spokeswoman Louise Maxwell. In February, the increase was 17.8 percent over the previous year, she said.

It's one of the reasons that Children's has planned a major expansion, which includes increasing its current number of beds from 250 to 600. But that expansion, the biggest since the hospital opened at its current site in 1952, will take 15 to 20 years to complete, said spokeswoman Jennifer Seymour.

A campus also is planned to open in Snohomish County.

Dr. Francois Aspesberro, a doctor who treated Alex at Swedish, said medical records showed that when he when he first arrived at Providence Everett Medical Center, he was unable to respond to questions because his blood sugar was so high.

Alex's condition was considered serious when he arrived at Swedish. But with rehydration and careful monitoring, he is on the road to recovery. By Friday evening, it looked as if he could be discharged this weekend.

"He should have no damage," Aspesberro said. "He should be able to go back to his regular life."

Reporter Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com.