Driscoll RGV has already treated 20,000 local children in first year

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EDINBURG — Driscoll Children’s Hospital Rio Grande Valley celebrated its first birthday here Thursday evening, an occasion that was met with fanfare and festivities in celebration of the institution’s first anniversary serving the South Texas community.

People gathered at the Driscoll parking lot to celebrate its birthday in true party form with activities such as face paint, arts and crafts and carnival games.

Kids ran from game to game like little balls of energy. Some played with large building blocks while others tried their hand at the ring toss and Tip-A-Troll games.

Despite the heat there were smiles all around as people sat around the stage celebrating the impact Driscoll has had in the community.

According to Matt Wolthoff, president of Driscoll Children’s Hospital Rio Grande Valley, in just one year the facility, which opened its doors on May 8, has seen the fruits of its labor.

“It’s been a very successful first year,” Wolthoff said. “We knew that there was a need when we built this hospital … and the first year has really validated that need.”

Although demand exceeded expectations in terms of patient volume, Wolthoff explained that this only motivated them to continue to improve and expand their efforts in the area.

“(This is) the first of many, many years of serving children in the Valley,” Wolthoff said Thursday as he extended gratitude and appreciation for the staff who helped make this happen.

In just one year the facility has seen over 20,000 children in their emergency department and have conducted more than 5,000 surgeries as well as cared for more than 1,000 babies in their neonatal intensive care unit.

Due to the large patient volume Wolthoff explained that for the majority of the year the facility had been operating between 70% to 80% capacity, which is not typical in the first year of operation.

Although they did not expect to reach those numbers in the first year, Wolthoff explained they prepared for this regardless.

During the construction of the facility they had left room on the fifth floor where they could eventually build additional ICU units if necessary.

“We did not expect to be building out that floor in one year but the need is there,” Wolthoff said, adding that they will be bringing in an additional 15 ICU beds.

Adding more units is not the only expansion plan in the hospital’s future. In fact, Wolthoff and his team are working on bringing more services to the Valley.

“As we continue to add pediatric subspecialties we’re going to get to the point where, with very, very few exceptions, children are no longer going to have to travel for care,” Wolthoff said. “That’s our vision.”

Dr. Ana Almeda, chief medical officer at Driscoll Children’s Hospital Rio Grande Valley, explained that they have recruited additional services that weren’t previously available in the arena, such as pediatric EMT, pediatric geneticist as well as additional surgery subspecialties.

They have also recruited pediatric anesthesiologists, which Almeda referred to as a big win for their patients, as well as bringing in additional neurologists.

But wait there’s more.

According to Bertha Guerra, senior director for professional and support services, the facility is working towards a Level 3 trauma designation and is looking into expanding its emergency and trauma services.

The facility currently has a trauma medical director and program manager in preparation to meet that goal as well as its injury prevention programs, which work on various initiatives such as car seat safety or ATV (all-terrain vehicle) safety and distracted driving.

Guerra explained that they hope to expand their footprint to be able to provide more services to children including creating a “fast track” in the emergency department so they can triage patients when they come in, to help treat patients in a more timely manner.

During their first year the hospital has also recruited a child abuse specialist who is “the only one of her kind in the Rio Grande Valley,” Wolthoff explained, adding that the service line is critical to address the needs of those who are victims of child abuse.

“We’ll have not only acute care services where if a child comes in through the emergency department and is a victim of abuse we have the nurses trained and the physician specialist to care for them, (but) we’ll also have an outpatient clinic presence for that as well, where children can be referred to even if they don’t come through our emergency department,” Wolthoff said, adding that Driscoll has also scored well with patients.

The work isn’t finished yet, though.

“There’s a lot of work still to do,” Wolthoff said. “We’re going to continue to raise the bar in terms of services and quality of care for children in the Rio Grande Valley.”

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