(en español)
Like hospitals around the country, we are seeing a significant increase in emergency department visits and admissions to our hospital. This is due in part to a spike in viral respiratory infections, including RSV and flu. In severe cases, it can require intensive care for children. This surge in illness is exacerbated by the national healthcare workforce shortages. We have implemented measures to accommodate the higher volumes and deliver safe care.
When a child in our hospital or emergency department is facing a life-threatening emergency, there is no wait time.
Families who come to us with non-urgent issues will experience long waits to be seen. We anticipate our hospital volumes will remain near capacity in the near future. Families should consider whether their child could be cared for at their primary care pediatrician’s office or at a local urgent care. We also encourage families to stay up to-date on vaccines including a flu shot and the latest vaccine for COVID-19.We encourage parents to be kind to the staff who are doing their best to care for all the children who come to our hospital.
Children’s National introduced a robot to its Emergency Department (ED) for patients under evaluation for a COVID infection or being treated for other conditions.
The Emergency Medicine and Trauma Center at Children’s National is the only Level I Pediatric Trauma Center in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, as verified by the American College of Surgeons. As the only freestanding children’s hospital in the area, Children’s National serves as the regional referral center for pediatric emergencies.
In addition, our Emergency Medicine and Trauma Center is recognized as Maryland’s out-of-state regional pediatric burn center by the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems (MIEMSS). Under this designation, our team of experts is recognized as being best equipped to share the volume of Maryland burn patients with Maryland’s in-state pediatric trauma center.
As a Level I Pediatric Trauma Center, we are uniquely qualified to provide emergency care for children, from the design of the department to our highly skilled professionals who understand the special needs of younger, smaller patients.
Our center provides a full range of emergency diagnostic and treatment services for acutely ill and injured patients. Our team includes leading fellowship trained experts in pediatric emergency care, and ensuring all of our pediatric subspecialists are available for consultations. Division units add another level of service for children and families:
Our pediatric emergency services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week at two locations in the nation's capital:
We also offer pediatric emergency services from 1 p.m. - 11 p.m., seven days a week at Luminis Health Doctors Community Medical Center, located at 8118 Good Luck Road, Lanham, MD 20706.
If you or someone that you know is a survivor of verbal, emotional, physical or sexual abuse, we strongly encourage you to seek help immediately. Learn how you can protect yourself and others from violence.
Harmful and sometimes life-threatening poisonings and ingestions are significant concerns with children and teens. Cosmetics and personal care products, pain killers and household cleaning products are the most common poisons in children five years old and younger.
The PPE Conservation Strategies Tool, developed at Children's National Hospital, helps healthcare centers see the large differences in expected consumption of personal protective equipment when choosing between four potential strategies to conserve supplies.
We are training the next generation of pediatric emergency and trauma specialists at Children's National Hospital. Our training opportunities provide experience and education to develop exceptional leaders within the field of emergency medicine.
After Joshua and Sandra Sweek noticed that their 6-month-old son, Noah, was having breathing problems, they took him to the doctor. There, the baby was diagnosed with suspected asthma.
Joelle Simpson Division Chief, Emergency MedicineMedical Director, Emergency Preparedness
Jay Pershad Clinical Chief, Emergency Medicine Emergency Medicine Physician
Kathleen Brown Associate Division Chief, Emergency Medicine Medical Director, Quality Emergency Medicine Physician
Monika Goyal Associate Division Chief, Emergency MedicineDirector, Academic Affairs and ResearchEmergency Medicine Physician
Sephora Morrison Assistant Division Chief, Emergency Medicine Director, Operations Emergency Medicine Physician
Michael Quinn Assistant Division Chief, Emergency Medicine Director, Transport MedicineEmergency Medicine Physician
Dewesh Agrawal Vice-Chair, Medical Education Emergency Medicine Physician
Tania Ahluwalia Associate Director, Global Health Programs Emergency Medicine Physician
Shireen Atabaki Medical Director, Informatics Associate Medical Director, Telemedicine Emergency Medicine Physician
Deena Berkowitz Associate Division Chief, Emergency Medicine Director, Acute Care Fellowship
Kristen Breslin Research Director, Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship Director of Research, Acute Care Fellowship Emergency Medicine Physician
James Chamberlain Director, Data Analytics and Informatics Emergency Medicine Physician
Jennifer Chapman Director, Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship Emergency Medicine Physician
Sarah Combs Director, Outreach Emergency Medicine Physician
Katie Donnelly Director, Resident Education Director, Medical Student Clerkship Medical Director, Safe Kids DCEmergency Medicine Physician
Sabrina Guse Associate Director, Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship Emergency Medicine Physician
Camilo Gutierrez Director, Global Health ProgramsEmergency Medicine Physician
Lenore Jarvis Director, Advocacy and Health Policy Emergency Medicine Physician
Ioannis Koutroulis Emergency Medicine Physician
Christina Lindgren Director, Associate Fellowship Emergency Medicine Physician
Ponda Madati Medical Director, Children's National Emergency Department at United Medical Center Emergency Medicine Physician
Karen O'Connell Director, Patient Safety Emergency Medicine Physician
Shilpa Patel Medical Director, IMPACT DC Asthma Clinic Emergency Medicine Physician
Asha Payne Medical Director, Emergency Department at Luminis Health Doctors Community Medical Center Emergency Medicine Physician
Alexandra Rucker Assistant Medical Director, Emergency Department at United Medical Center Director, Clinical Associates Emergency Medicine Physician
Haroon Shaukat Assistant Program Director, Urgent Care Fellowship Emergency Medicine Physician
Stephen Teach Chair, Department of Pediatrics Associate Dean, Pediatric Faculty Affairs
Rosemary Thomas-Mohtat Director, Emergency Ultrasound Fellowship Director, Emergency Ultrasound Emergency Medicine Physician
Caleb Ward Chair, Intern Selection CommitteeProgram Director, Emergency Medical Services for Children - D.C. Program Emergency Medicine Physician
Pavan Zaveri Director, Education Emergency Medicine Physician
Xian Zhao Assistant Program Director of Intern Selection, Pediatric Residency Program Co-Director of Resident and Medical Student Education, Division of Emergency Medicine
Eiman Abdulrahman Emergency Medicine Physician
Alyssa Abo Emergency Medicine Physician
Rachael Batabyal Emergency Medicine Physician
Amie Cahill Emergency Medicine Physician
Marci Fornari Emergency Medicine Physician
Robert Freishtat Senior Investigator, Center for Genetic Medicine ResearchEmergency Medicine Physician
Tress Goodwin Emergency Medicine Physician
Elaise Hill Emergency Medicine Physician
Sarah Isbey Associate Director, Emergency Department SafetyEmergency Medicine Physician
Jaclyn Kline Emergency Medicine Physician
Simone Lawson Assistant Director, Emergency Ultrasound Fellowship Emergency Medicine Physician
Matthew E. Lecuyer Emergency Medicine Physician
Mandisa McIver Emergency Medicine Physician
Kenneth McKinley Emergency Medicine Physician
David Magilner Emergency Medicine Physician
Angela Maxwell Emergency Medicine Physician
Nichole McCollum Emergency Medicine Physician
Jillian Nickerson Emergency Medicine Physician
Dennis Ren Emergency Medicine Physician
Jeremy Root Emergency Medicine Physician
Sophia Smith Emergency Medicine Physician
Theodore Trigylidas Emergency Medicine Physician
Emily Willner Director, Acute Care FellowshipEmergency Medicine Physician
Julie Berg Staff Physician
Veronica Campanella Staff Physician
Jeffrey Chu Staff Physician
Christopher Gable Staff Physician
Allison Kasper Staff Physician
Paige Kennedy Staff Physician
Suzanne Levin Staff Physician
Elizabeth Moccia Staff Physician
Lauren Mulcahy Staff Physician
Tara Neary Assistant Director, Acute Care FellowshipStaff Physician
Joy Piotrowski Staff Physician
Meenu Potdar Staff Physician
Zemen Retta Staff Physician
Eric Rosenthal Staff Physician
Melissa Samuelson Staff Physician
Laura Sigman Assistant Medical Director, Emergency Department at Luminis Health Doctors Community Medical Center Staff Physician
Amy Yeager Assistant Director of Operations, Fast Track Staff Physician
Jais Valley Staff Physician
Daniel Carr Emergency Medicine Fellow
Mickey Emmanuel Emergency Medicine Fellow
Rachel Hatcliffe Emergency Medicine Fellow
Harrison Hayward Emergency Medicine Fellow
Jessica Hippolyte Emergency Medicine Fellow
Brandon Ho Emergency Medicine Fellow
Brandon Kappy Emergency Medicine Fellow
Hannah Kotler Emergency Medicine Fellow
Malek Mazzawi Emergency Medicine Fellow
Walter Palmer Emergency Medicine Fellow
Christina Rojas Emergency Medicine Fellow
Michaela Brown Physician Assistant
Stephanie Cook Physician Assistant
Amy Doering Physician Assistant
Fanny Enriquez Physician Assistant
Alana Holt Physician Assistant
Susannah Jenkins Physician Assistant
Kelly Kerrigan Physician Assistant
Mary Kinler Nurse Practitioner
Tonya Miller-Thomas Physician Assistant
Cara Moses Physician Assistant
Conni Nevills Nurse Practitioner
Caroline Oehlerich Physician Assistant
Yuri Paredes Nurse Practitioner
Jennifer Tran Director, Children's National Safety Center Physician Assistant
Ashley White Physician Assistant
Rebecca Zhang Physician Assistant
Marvin Alexander Advanced Clinical Psychiatric Social Worker
Jennifer Gurevich Social Worker
Christopher Page Program Manager, Emergency Medical Services for Children Program Clinical Research Project Manager, Emergency Medicine and Trauma Services
During the visit, the President and First Lady met with several families in the hospital’s CICU and also toured the telehealth command center to learn about the cutting-edge technology used to keep continuous watch over the most fragile children with critical heart disease. They also took time to thank hospital staff, including healthcare workers from the hospital’s Emergency Department.