Breidegam Family Children’s ER Now Open

After 10 years, the community’s only Children’s ER, located at Lehigh Valley Hospital–Cedar Crest, has a new, bigger space. The new Breidegam Family Children’s ER is doubled in size and built just for kids to get the specialized care only Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital can provide.

Highlights of the expansion, made possible by the generous support of the Breidegam Family, include:

• Dedicated entrance and waiting area. The waiting area includes a play area and family-friendly amenities, like a café.
• More treatment rooms. The number of beds has increased from 12 to 27. Each room is equipped for any type of treatment and resuscitation, depending on the level of care needed. With dedicated behavioral health rooms and a fast-track area, kids get the appropriate level of care in the safest and most efficient way possible. Additionally, there will be a 12-bed pediatric observation area for when kids need extra care without a full inpatient hospital stay.
• Pediatric-specific services. The Children’s ER will be supported by dedicated X-ray, ultrasound and pediatric pharmacy services.
• Expert physician and nursing staff. Board-certified pediatric emergency physicians will provide 24/7 coverage along with pediatric nurses and nurse practitioners.

More access to emergency care at the community’s only children’s hospital

Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital has the region’s only 24/7 emergency room dedicated to children. The new 27-bed Breidegam Family Children’s ER is built just for kids and is staffed by board-certified pediatric emergency medicine physicians who skillfully and compassionately care for ill and injured kids.

The Children’s ER treats nearly 22,000 children annually, nearly double the number of patients as when it first opened. The new Breidegam Family Children’s ER will provide even greater access to expert emergency care and will enhance our ability to care for children and their families in a new space with features just for kids, including:

• Doctors and nurses specially trained in pediatric emergency medicine
• Child-life specialists to help kids cope with an ER visit
• Child-friendly designs for kids of all ages – newborn to teens
• Sensory friendly spaces
• Spacious waiting room with a play area and café

Highly trained staff provide emergency care for kids

In Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital, the community’s only children’s hospital, you have a partner that's better prepared than anyone in the region to care for kids. Our Children’s Hospital brings more than 20 years of pediatric expertise under one roof to provide specialty services close to home.

The Breidegam Family Children’s ER is run by board-certified pediatric emergency physicians. The care team includes advanced practice clinicians experienced in caring for kids, a nursing team specially trained in pediatric emergency medicine, pediatric pharmacists who can provide accurate medication dosing, child-life specialists who make the hospital experience less stressful for children and pediatric respiratory therapists who treat airway problems.

Rapid transportation to the Children’s ER

When your child has an injury or illness that requires emergency care, they may be transported to the Breidegam Family Children’s ER by ambulance or helicopter. Our MedEvac transportation team is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week by paramedics and registered nurses with education and experience in providing pediatric critical care.

The health and safety of your child is of the utmost importance. That’s why we’ve designed a sophisticated MedEvac transport service where team members can administer medication and perform procedures that typical emergency medical service crews cannot.

Learn more at LVHN.org/ChildrensER.