KANSAS CITY, Mo. — On Monday, Children’s Mercy Hospital kicked off a new phased-in plan to treat pediatric patients.
All clinics and the surgery department have a begun a four-tiered process to reschedule appointments and schedule new appointments.
Paul Kempinski, president and CEO of Children’s Mercy, said telemedicine has proven very popular during the pandemic and foresees those visits remaining a big piece of the approach to care.
“In fact, as we phase in our patient care activity, we anticipate targeting about 60% of our clinic patients being seen face to face,” Kempinski said. “And 40% of those patients continuing to be seen in a virtual environment.”
Children’s Mercy will call families when ready to reschedule appointments that were canceled due to COVID-19. If a child was referred to Children’s Mercy, but not previously scheduled, families will be notified by call or text to schedule an appointment. To schedule a new appointment, parents are asked to call (816) 234-3700.
The phased-in plan will unfold over a 6-8 week time frame. Doctors say patients with the most urgent needs will likely be seen first.
“And so there are some patients that have been waiting for some procedures and some things that are time sensitive, that we’re trying to really get in a lot quicker,” Dr. Stacy Doyle said.
Kempinski also revealed that many of the 575 Children’s Mercy employees who were furloughed during the pandemic will begin to return to work.
“As we begin to ramp up patient care activity, there’s no question that some employees will be called back,” Kempinski said. “We don’t know those numbers yet. It’s unknown. We are in the very early stages of our recovery plan.”
