USA Health Children’s & Women’s Hospital Expands Pediatric Emergency Center

Last spring the healthcare community of Mobile, Alabama announced the opening of the new Pediatric Emergency Center at USA Health Children’s and Women’s Hospital. The University of South Alabama Health System has long since been a leading provider for pediatric services by offering advanced care within their multifaceted children’s department. While the hospital already had a pediatric emergency center, the expansion has more than doubled its size. It also offers new features for providing a more comprehensive and specialized level of care for individualized circumstances. We were lucky enough to get to tour the new facility and learn about the new program/attributes our city has gained in the healthcare world. We wholeheartedly believe this is a huge upgrade for the families in our local area.

SKIPS Program

One major attribute of the expansion is the introduction of the South Kids Intervention and Prevention Services (SKIPS) program. It is the first of its kind to Mobile and along the gulf coast dedicated to providing pediatric sexual assault care. Patients that arrive with these unfortunate circumstances will be assigned a SANE (sexual assault nurse examiner) trained in completing the physical exam while collecting evidence in the correct fashion.

Safe Haven Baby Box

While clinically they have been operating since March 2024, they recently added an additional feature that as a community we should all be celebrating, the Safe Haven Baby Box. These boxes provide a safe place for parents in crisis to leave an infant when they feel they are unable to properly care for the child. There is a Safe Haven Crisis Hotline that can assist mothers on how to properly surrender the infant with complete anonymity and direct them to the proper resources. They will also receive counseling and assistance for free through the hotline. This is a last resort option for those that are unable or unwilling to care for the infant.

To utilize the box, the individual simply opens the door, places the child inside, and closes the door. Once the door is shut a silent alarm alerts first responders to retrieve the infant. There are no repercussions to the mother for surrendering the child in this way, thus hopefully lowering the number of illegal abandonments. Please help educate our community and spread awareness about the Safe Haven Baby Box.

Specialized Care Rooms

We were blown away by the new state of the art facility. The layout of examination and emergency rooms was well thought out and executed nicely. The flow of the department was excellent for the providers and yet also the families. The providers’ stations are in the center, while the patient rooms circle around focusing on specialized types of care. Different types of rooms we observed included the following:

• The exam rooms have excellent equipment, televisions, and lighting options.
• The sensory friendly room offers kids with special needs a calm, inviting environment as to not overstimulate. Headphones, bubble machines, and colored light options are just a few of the benefits offered for these patients.
• The SANE room allows patients of sexual assault a more private room with its own bathroom and extra space.
• The observation rooms provide a private space for patients that may be violent or self harming. A window allows for observing and the tv is mounted inside the wall to provide an extra safety feature.
• The emergency unit is closest to the ambulance drop off location, providing an easy, yet swift transition to patients entering the unit under medical duress.

Spread Awareness

While we wish some of the services were not necessary, the USA Pediatric Emergency Center has the ability to provide the best care possible to children and adolescents in need. We believe the level of care for each individual case will be better and more effective. As a community, please help spread awareness by sharing with others and/or directing them straight to the facility.

If you or someone you know needs pediatric care please visit USA Pediatric Emergency Center.