El Paso's first children's hospital set to open its doors  [posted online by KFOX Feb. 8, 2012]

Those who have been working for over 20 years to bring a children's hospital to El Paso are calling it a dream come true. One week from now, on Valentine's Day, the new hospital will open its doors.  It's something mom Cynthia Casas wishes had been around the last time her son, 1-year-old Brandon, almost came down with pneumonia. "Right away I took him to the ER, and I had to lie say he was having a hard time breathing so they would see him, but I still had to wait for five  hours," said Casas.  Brandon didn't have pneumonia, but Casas feels a little sense of relief now knowing that if something like that happens again, she'll now have a dedicated children's ER to go to. It's part of the new El Paso Children's Hospital that sits right next door to University Medical Center.  Story         KMD Architects press release    

El Paso's growing pediatric services  [posted online by El Paso Inc. Feb. 7, 2012]

Excerpt: 

The biggest success story, one that probably saves the most lives, has been in pediatric emergency care.  Five years ago, El Paso had one pediatric emergency specialist. The Regional Children's Hospital at Providence opened El Paso's first pediatric emergency room last fall, announcing it was staffed with seven hard-to-find pediatric emergency medicine specialists.

The new El Paso Children's Hospital will open the city's second emergency room for children this month. It will be staffed by one pediatric emergency specialist and other emergency medicine physicians without the pediatric specialty. … The new children's hospital has also recruited seven critical care pediatric specialists, several of whom will be available part-time, to staff the pediatric intensive care unit for children with severe injuries and illnesses.  Story 

El Paso Children's Hospital set to open  [published online by El Paso Times Feb. 5, 2012]

Larry Duncan can hardly wait for Valentine's Day. That's when he and several hundred others will have their hearts, minds and bodies focused on some special loved ones -- children. More specifically, they'll be focusing on the children who will become the first patients at what Duncan and others bill as El Paso's first full-fledged children's hospital. Duncan, 47, moved from Milwaukee in the summer of 2010 to become the first chief executive officer of the recently completed 122-bed, not-for-profit El Paso Children's Hospital, which will open Feb. 14, on the University Medical Center campus.  A ribbon-cutting ceremony and public tours are set for Saturday. The hospital will see patients generally from birth to 18 years old, with some exceptions.  Duncan, who has years of senior management experience at children's hospitals in Milwaukee and Philadelphia, expects that the new hospital will start making money within its first two years of operation. John Harris said he welcomes the new hospital even though it will bring competition to his company, which operates a children's hospital within Providence Memorial Hospital.  Story 

El Paso Inc. examines Children’s Hospital vital signs   [published online by El Paso Inc. Jan. 31, 2012] 

The El Paso Inc. on Jan. 30 published a story that takes an in-depth look at the El Paso Children’s Hospital, its financial viability and the challenges to come. Here is an excerpt from that article: The price tag for the new building, which includes other services on the first floor, is close to $235 million. Many see the not-for-profit children's hospital as a huge community achievement, on par with the four-year Paul L. Foster School of Medicine…. But the children's hospital's financing is complex, and some wonder where the money will come from to run it and pay the high salaries of pediatricians and pediatric specialists recruited to work there. Ultimately, the question is whether the El Paso Children's Hospital, a private, non-profit corporation that will not have direct access to local tax revenues or a wealthy corporate parent to cover losses, will be financially viable in the long run. Few are willing to raise those questions publicly, given the level of popular and political support for it in the biggest U.S. city without a separately licensed children's hospital.   Story                    

New hospital crunch time:  Dream for decades, now a mad rush   [published online by El Paso Inc. Jan. 30, 2012]

   The El Paso Inc. published a follow-up story on the “mad rush” to open the new El Paso Children’s Hospital. Here is an excerpt: 

   "It's going to be a tremendous resource to the community, not only for services it will bring but also educationally," said Dr. Jose Manuel de la Rosa, dean of Texas Tech's Paul Foster School of Medicine and a pediatrician by training.

   But people wonder what difference will it really mean to children who have severe diseases, traffic or athletic injuries and mental illness?

   De la Rosa said having a children's hospital linked to a public, full-fledged, four-year medical school will mean having many more children's medical specialists available and a training ground where many newly minted pediatricians may choose to stay.

   "That means we will be able to offer specialty care so children don't have to go to Dallas or Tucson," De la Rosa said.

   However, some pediatric patients will need specialists outside of El Paso, including severe burn patients, as well as those with some cancer and open-heart surgery needs.

   The list of more than 23 specialists recruited so far to work at the new children's hospital includes a pediatric and critical care specialist, two child and adolescent psychiatry specialists, three critical care specialists and two pediatric cancer specialists.

   Larry Duncan, the hospital's CEO, said he is working to attract at least 10 more pediatricians and specialists.

   The hospital also attracted one of the most sought-after specialties in the country, a pediatric emergency medicine physician whom others hope represents a trend.   Story