Pediatric Subacute

The Children's Center

Message from the Director of the Pediatric Subacute Unit

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September 2021

Dear Families,

Whittier Hospital is fortunate enough to have a new Child Life Specialist on staff. KC Fernandez CCLS joined our team in September 2021 and we are fortunate to have her. She has brought experience and great ideas to the PSA unit. KC provides a great service in improving quality of life for our special kiddos on the pediatric subacute. Please join me in thanking KC Fernandez for the wonderful work and service she provides.

Sincerely,

Reinali Zabalerio RN
Director Pediatric Sub-acute
Whittier Hospital Medical Center
9080 Colima Rd.
Whittier, CA 90605

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August, 2021

Dear Families,

We are saddened to announce that Christian Liu, our Child Life Specialist, is no longer working with Whittier Pediatric Sub-Acute. We will miss her greatly as she worked wonderfully with our families and residents for two years. We understand that this will have an impact to the structure of the activities of our residents and their families but we are working diligently towards filling the position. We ask for your patience as we work towards creating a plan that meets our patient’s needs during this transition. This includes changes to our FaceTime schedule.

We are requesting your cooperation with changes to our FaceTime schedule. We will be contacting you to coordinate new times to help with the structure of our day-to-day care of our residents. At this time, no changes will affect our one-on-one visitation schedule we do continue to request families contact us 24 hours in advance to schedule a visit. We thank you all for your cooperation in this matter.

Sincerely,

Reinali Zabalerio RN
Director Pediatric Sub-acute
Whittier Hospital Medical Center
9080 Colima Rd.
Whittier, CA 90605

March 25, 2021

Dear Family Members:

We want to provide you with an update on the situation at Whittier Hospital Pediatric Subacute regarding visitation. The safety and wellbeing of our residents is our top priority. We have worked diligently to prevent infection from COVID-19 within the Pediatric Subacute. Since March of 2020, we have had Zero residents with confirmed cases of COVID-19.

The California Department of Public Health has issued detailed guidelines regarding visitation for units such as the Pediatric Subacute. Whittier Hospital Pediatric Subacute may restrict visitation due to COVID-19 county positivity rates and Tier level, the unit’s COVID-19 status, staffing issues, the residents COVID-19 status, visitor’s symptoms, lack of adherence to infection control protocols and factors relevant to the COVID-19 pandemic. This being said, we are happy to announce that we will slowly open the unit for outdoor and indoor visitation on April 12, 2021.

Any visitor entering the unit must adhere to the core principles and best practices to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission regardless of the visitor or resident vaccination status:

  1. Visitation will be scheduled in advance, a minimum of 24 hours prior to the visit with the Clinical Manager at 562-907-1770 or Child Life Specialist, Christina Lui at 562-907-1726.
  2. The number of visitors for outdoor visitation is 2-3 people and one (1) person for indoor visitation.
  3. Minors under the age of 18 years old will not be permitted at this time.
  4. Visitors will be screened for fever and symptoms prior to entering the hospital.
  5. Visitors will be required to wear the appropriate Personal Protective Equipment as instructed by staff.
  6. Visitors will be required to follow hand hygiene protocols.
  7. Visitors will be instructed by the staff on the visitation protocol.
  8. Social distancing will be enforced for all visitations with some exceptions.
  9. Visitation will be restricted when the county is in Tier (1) purple with some exceptions.
  10. Visitors will not be allowed to wander the unit or visit with other residents or staff.
  11. Visitation will be limited to 30 minutes to 1 hour or as tolerated by the resident.
  12. Visitors may be required to present a negative COVID-19 test with results less than 2 days prior to the visit dependent upon the visitors and residents vaccination status. (Depending on County Positivity Rate and Tier Status)

Thank you for your support during this very difficult year. It is a privilege to have the opportunity to care for your child and together we have kept the unit COVID-19 free.

Sincerely,
Reinali Zabalerio RN
Director of Pediatric Subacute