About the Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine

The Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine provides care to sick and injured children throughout San Diego county as well as Riverside and Imperial counties. Our faculty provide physician services at the Sam S. and Rose Stein Emergency Care Center (ECC) at Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego (RCHSD) and six RCHSD Urgent Care Centers (UCC).  Additionally, our faculty provide 24 hour emergency services in a nested pediatric ED within the Rancho Springs Medical Center in Murrieta, CA north of San Diego. 

The RCHSD ECC is the only emergency care center in the San Diego region that is solely dedicated to the care of children. It is also the only Level 1 pediatric trauma center in San Diego County. The emergency care center specializes in a host of services including evaluation and treatment of medical illnesses, treatment of minor injuries (including lacerations), acute orthopedic care, pediatric sedations, non-accidental injuries, stabilization and treatment of children with critical illnesses and trauma, poisonings, water submersion illnesses, acute psychiatric illnesses, and the care of children with special needs among others. The UCCs provide after-hours pediatric care conveniently located at six different locations outside of our main campus as well as Murrieta in Riverside county

 

Major Goals & Plans

The vision of the Division of Emergency Medicine is a center of clinical excellence for providing acute care to ill and injured children in San Diego and the premiere site on the West Coast and beyond for providing emergency medical services to children. The mission is to strive daily for the health and welfare of acutely ill and injured children and their families. To this end, the goal is to provide safe, consistent, high-quality services that are evidence based while promoting collaborative teaching and clinical research that benefits the children of San Diego and beyond. 

We continue to grow and achieve success within our division through expansion of both clinical services and academic endeavors. Our goals in the coming years include the following:

1) Improved  Clinical Space

A modern, integrative, expansive pediatric emergency department is currently in the planning phase

2) Faculty Growth and Development

We have successfully recruited some of the brightest, most talented  of pediatric emergency medicine faculty, pediatricians, mid-level providers and nurses who are dedicated to the care of children, building strong cohesive teams, and furthering enthusiastic instruction and advancement of scientific discovery. 

We will continue to support work in the following areas: clinical care, clinical research, quality improvement, medical education, point of care ultrasound, resuscitation education, EMS, Disaster Medicine, informatics, simulation, administration and leadership, community emergency medicine, urgent care medicine, LGBTQ advocacy, diversity and inclusion, community and injury prevention advocacy, and physician wellness

3) Adapting and Improving Care through Iterative System and Operational Improvements

 We will continue to innovate with regard to how best to achieve daily efficiency, safety and quality to benefit patients and their families by defining metrics and goals targeted the best outcomes for our patients and team. We are dedicated to the highest level of care and service for every child and family in our community when they need us the most.