AURORA, Colo. — Some kids are having to wait months to be seen by their specialists. Children's Hospital Colorado blames staffing limitations for the hold up. But it's gotten to the point where one Aurora mom flew to Massachusetts to get help.
Megan Reece noticed something wrong when her daughter Charlie was about 18 months old.
"She didn't look like she was thriving," Reece explained. Reece said Charlie began to develop fevers and was admitted to Children's Hospital Colorado for a few days. They thought the problem had to do with inflammation.
"We couldn't get her into rheumatology. We were told it would be a 6-8 month wait," Reece said. "I was scared I was going to lose my child."
Reece didn't wait. She flew to the east coast where she was able to schedule a specialist appointment at Boston Children's Hospital within two weeks. Charlie was diagnosed with an autoinflammatory disease.
Now they're back and so are the wait times.
"We're at two months now for immunology," Reece explained as she stood by three binders full of paperwork that layout the lengths she has gone to keep her daughter healthy.
"I did not see this coming but now that I have her it makes me want to advocate for other families in the same situation," she explained. Megan wrote a Facebook post on a Mom group in Denver about the challenges with the specialists wait time. The post got more than 100 replies. Other families cited wait times for specialists ranging from months to years.
"To have that severe deficit in getting kids seen, that's awful," she added.
Children's Hospital Colorado acknowledged the problem.
In a statement they said:
"Our Patient Relations team is available and actively helping families address the longer wait times experienced for new patient appointments in certain pediatric specialties. While longer wait times are primarily due to provider and staffing limitations, our teams work diligently to evaluate the urgency of every appointment request in partnership with a patient’s referring and/or primary care provider. Patients’ referring and/or primary care providers have access to Children’s Hospital Colorado specialty care through the eConsult Platform or by phone for more urgent guidance from specialists.
"Families can also experience longer delays for routine appointments if they have specified a particular provider, location, or day/time for a requested appointment.
"We strive to see all patients in a timely manner, while providing the best care for each child and family."
Reece is waiting until the end of January to see if she can get an appointment for her daughter. If not, she plans to go back to Boston. In the meantime, Reece is hoping to speak to state legislators to see if there is anything they can do about addressing these issues.
"What matters is getting our babies taken care of," Reece added.
Children's Hospital Colorado said families can contact the Patient Relations team if they have concerns that include specialists' wait times. Their phone number is 720-777-1010 and their email is patientrelations@childrenscolorado.org. Families need to include the patient's name and contact information in the email.
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Mental Health & Wellness