Bayhealth’s Milford Memorial Hospital temporarily suspended admissions to their pediatric inpatient unit starting January 1st.
Bayhealth officials cited a decline in admissions to the department for the move. The unit on average had less than one patient per day.
The medical center in northern Sussex County will now send patients seeking pediatric inpatient treatment to Kent General in Dover - or possibly a specializing hospital elsewhere.
Bayheath officials note the dramatic fall in admissions is not unusual, mirroring a similar decline across the country. They say new medications and treatments now allow more management of child illnesses in the home.
Staff of the small four-bed unit will be reassigned within Milford Memorial’s maternal-child department, and the short term closing will allow Milford Memorial to free up resources for other areas of need.
This is the first time the unit has shut down, and hospital staff will monitor the situation to determine if restarting the unit is necessary.