Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center will accept adult patients when possible to help amid a surge of COVID-19, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
In a statement provided to Becker's Dec. 1, the academic pediatric acute care hospital said some local adult hospitals are reaching capacity due to the surge, so it has agreed to accept some adult patients from Cincinnati-based UC Health. This change will apply to adults under age 30 who need inpatient care.
"Cincinnati Children's will focus on the patient populations in which we have expertise," the hospital said.
"The hospital has always cared for adult patients in select programs, such as cancer and blood disease, heart, and neurology," the hospital added. "Cincinnati Children's doesn't automatically stop caring for a patient who had a medical issue as a child just because they reach adulthood."
Cincinnati Children's Chief of Staff Patricia Manning-Courtney, MD, said the number of patients the hospital can care for will vary day to day.
Cincinnati Children's said it expects to start accepting some adult UC Health patients this week at its main campus in Cincinnati's Avondale neighborhood.