The University of Kansas Health System quietly said last month that it will close its pediatric intensive care unit sometime in the future.
That plan came as a surprise to many KU Medical Center faculty, who say they have deep concerns about closing the unit, or PICU.
KU said it has six PICU beds, and last year the hospital cared for about 150 patients. The space will be used instead for patient populations that are growing, “including newborns needing intensive care in the neonatal intensive care unit, the NICU,” said Dr. Steven Stites, KU Medical Center’s chief medical officer, on his weekly YouTube show.
Stites said the decision to close the PICU “was not made lightly.”
KU said its 25-year collaboration with Children’s Mercy Hospital will take up any slack. “Having a great partner like Children’s Mercy just down the street who provides excellent and quality care that’s internationally known, we’re lucky to have that in our backyard,” said Dr. Sean Kumer, KU’s chief medical officer in Kansas City.
But a letter from a faculty committee to KU Med Center leadership strongly disagrees and predicts dire consequences. The April 7 letter — obtained by KCUR — is from the Faculty Concerns Committee.
The four-page letter is unequivocal about patient care: “There are serious and preventable risks to pediatric patients’ safety and outcomes.”
Faculty in the emergency department and burn unit are particularly worried. “Eliminating the PICU will delay definitive care for critically ill children and worsen outcomes,” the committee wrote.
In an email response, KU said it disagrees with that assessment and that the hospital addresses patient needs individually. “We will have the right plans in place, as we do today, to keep patients as safe as possible,” according to a spokesperson.
The letter also claims closing the PICU will create an “increased burden on families” by making them travel longer distances. Faculty say KU’s emergency department will be strained because children will stay there longer.
Faculty also worry about losing what’s called the pediatric response team. “Its elimination removes a vital safety net that cannot be replaced by remote consultation or delayed transports,” according to the faculty letter.
In a response, KU Med Center officials said, “We do not agree.”
The faculty is also worried about educational needs of medical students. “There will be significant harm to medical education,” the letter said. Without the PICU, recruitment will be weakened and affects “the future physician pipeline.”
The faculty suggested Children’s Mercy may not be the answer. “Children’s Mercy has recently been unwilling to accommodate additional KU medical students for clinical rotations,” the letter said.
Children’s Mercy officials said that assessment is wrong. “Children’s Mercy has and will continue to accommodate medical student PICU rotations,” the hospital said in an email.
Faculty also said the PICU closure “erodes trust in administration and sets a dangerous precedent for closing clinical services lines in the future without faculty input.”
KU said the medical center and the health system are two different organizations. “This is a health system issue, not a university issue,” the email response said.
Lack of trust by faculty in University of Kansas leadership has been an ongoing issue. In a March poll, 80% of faculty said they had no confidence in KU Chancellor Doug Girod, a surgeon and former executive vice chancellor at the medical center.
The dispute at the KU Med Center is the latest chapter in a fraught time at the university.
The university just bargained its first contract with the faculty union. State and federal support is in peril. And in perhaps the most complicated problem, Kansas Athletics projects a $15 million deficit this year and KU is using its general fund to cover athlete payments. The athletics department had a $12 million deficit last year.
