Children’s healthcare options scarce in the Coachella Valley
Parents may suspect our valley is a “pediatric desert” when it comes to healthcare. CBS Local 2 #StandsForYou getting to the bottom of our area’s lack of resources for children, and what’s now being done about it.
Olivia Casden is a perfectly normal nine year old who likes to ice skate and read. But underneath her favorite t-shirt she’s hiding the secret to normalcy.
“I have an insulin pump right here, and a dextom right here,” she says, pointing to two packages attached to her skin. “A dexcom checks my blood sugar.”
The diagnosis of type one diabetes came during a frantic ER visit when Olivia was four.
“So we were probably within a few hours of losing her had we not gotten her to the hospital,” explains Olivia’s mother, Cathy.
Without a local pediatric endocrinologist, the Casdens are like thousands of other families in the Coachella Valley who are forced to get their care far from home.
Jenna LeComte-Hinley, PhD is CEO of the Palm Desert based non-profit HARC, Health Assessment and Research for Communities.
She says there are absolutely not enough physicians in the valley, and that access to healthcare is a major problem.
“We have about 43 primary care providers when we should have at bare minimum 60 and ideally more like 80,” LeComte-Hinley says.
And as the Casdens know, specialty care is even harder to come by.
“(Local doctors) are at the point though that they can diagnose (what is wrong). Here is what you have, and they can put an i.v. in, then they have to ship us out of the desert,” Cathy Casden describes.
More than 128,000 children live in the Coachella Valley.
n 2015, children under 15 checked in to the hospital almost 3,500 times. Of those visits to the hospital, every single pediatric patient who needed cardiac care traveled outside the Valley for treatment.
92% of local kids who needed neurological care got it out of town, and almost 95% of childhood cancer cases were not treated locally.
Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital gets the bulk of those cases. 17,000 in and outpatient visits from Coachella Valley children over the last decade.
“My own son has fairly profound medical issues for the last 21 years, and it’s been challenging for us here in the desert,” explains Dr. Euthym Kontaxis. Kontaxis is Medical Director of Eisenhower Medical Center‘s Emergency Room.
“When you have a sick kid it is hard. It is hard for the doctors, it is hard for the families, it’s hard for the nurses, and we’re all wanting the best,” says Kontaxis.
That is why Kontaxis joined an informal task force chaired by Congressman Raul Ruiz (D-36), a former Eisenhower Medical Center physician, to help parents better navigate the pediatric desert.
“I’ve reached out to some of the parents with kids are are fairly sick, that require specialty care. We are getting their input,” he says.
“We’re not going to put Loma Linda Children’s Hospital in the middle of Rancho Mirage,” says Kontaxis, “Because they can’t sustain. There’s not enough population…But there’s way room for improvement. And there’s room for better communication, easier transfers, closer follow up. All those things we can work on.”
Kontaxis points to a UC Riverside Family Medicine residency program in place at Valley hospitals.
“If the three hospitals can work together in a comprehensive way, talk about what areas we might be able to improve on, and then maybe work with some of the tertiary centers to maybe bring specialists out to the valley that can see maybe cardiac patients, cancer patients out on a regular basis,” suggests Kontaxis.
The problem should also improve when Loma Linda University Medical Center opens a pediatric outpatient pavilion in Indio. Current plans include only basic services like primary care, urgent care dentistry and lab services. But pulmonology, neurology and endocrinology services could follow, and that could cure the long commute for pediatric specialty care, and the stressors that come along with it.
“Bringing care to the community where the community is already at is critically important to making sure that people get treated,” adds LeComte-Hinley.
That is comforting to the Casden family.
“It’s a little scary to know that the closest help is over an hour away…it would be nice to have that next level of care.”
Valley parents weigh in with a WISH LIST they want legislators, administrators and doctors to read:
Kristin Elena Sherman Support services – that’s all! We need labs – urgent cares and infusion centers specifically designed for kids! I can drive for specialists but kids can’t live without PT, OT, Speech and those other kind of support services! “}” data-interaction-root-id=”_3-mf” data-testid=”ufi_comment_like_link” href=”https://www.facebook.com/BrookeBeare/#” role=”button” style=”color: rgb(54, 88, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none; font-family: inherit;” title=”Like this comment”>Like · Reply · Message · 10 · 1 hr Kelly Keith-Homans “}” data-interaction-root-id=”_3-mf” data-testid=”ufi_reply_like_link” href=”https://www.facebook.com/BrookeBeare/#” role=”button” style=”color: rgb(54, 88, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none; font-family: inherit;” title=”Like this comment”>Like · Reply · Message · 1 hr Write a reply… Sherri Black All of the above children should be first priority for any illness I feel so bad for these parents that have to travel so far to get help its ridiculous “}” data-interaction-root-id=”_3-mf” data-testid=”ufi_comment_like_link” href=”https://www.facebook.com/BrookeBeare/#” role=”button” style=”color: rgb(54, 88, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none; font-family: inherit;” title=”Like this comment”>Like · Reply · Message · 1 hr Cathy Boskovich Casden ERs that aren’t afraid of kids with chronic conditions. “}” data-interaction-root-id=”_3-mf” data-testid=”ufi_comment_like_link” href=”https://www.facebook.com/BrookeBeare/#” role=”button” style=”color: rgb(54, 88, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none; font-family: inherit;” title=”Like this comment”>Like · Reply · Message · 1 · 1 hr Victoria Huerta Yes anything more Peds!!! The hardest thing is driving an hour plus to Loma Linda because my special needs daughter has a cold and everyone in the desert doesn’t know what to do because they are afraid to care for her because of her rare condition! Alw … See More “}” data-interaction-root-id=”_3-mf” data-testid=”ufi_comment_like_link” href=”https://www.facebook.com/BrookeBeare/#” role=”button” style=”color: rgb(54, 88, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none; font-family: inherit;” title=”Like this comment”>Like · Reply · Message · 1 · 1 hr Kelly Keith-Homans We need to start from the ground up, being with more pediatricians who have TIME for these kids. Secondly the most important is just basic needs for pediatric care. ER staff that don’t make you feel like you’re incompetent and worthless, labs who are t … See More “}” data-interaction-root-id=”_3-mf” data-testid=”ufi_comment_like_link” href=”https://www.facebook.com/BrookeBeare/#” role=”button” style=”color: rgb(54, 88, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none; font-family: inherit;” title=”Like this comment”>Like · Reply · Message · 1 · 1 hr · Edited Kimberly Shepard Yes, we need to start with more Pediatricians. With a large percentage of our pediatric population being enrolled in Medi Cal HMO health plans, the Pediatricians we have are required to see way too many kids. They can only spend minutes with each child . If we had more Pediatricians maybe they’d have the time to practice the way they really would like and be able to give our desert kids better healthcare and attention. Maybe so many kids wouldn’t have to go so far for things a Pediatrician should be able to handle. Diabetes, Asthma, Pneumonia should all be able to be handled locally with exception of special needs kids. However, support services as mentioned before for special needs kids would definitely make a difference to these kids and their families. It’s not right for parents to have to drive their kids for PT, OT and Speech therapy 2-3 days a week to a facility 50-100 miles away. “}” data-interaction-root-id=”_3-mf” data-testid=”ufi_comment_like_link” href=”https://www.facebook.com/BrookeBeare/#” role=”button” style=”color: rgb(54, 88, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none; font-family: inherit;” title=”Like this comment”>Like · Reply · Message · 53 mins
