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Resilience of Pediatric Healthcare Services in an Urban Hospital in China During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Late 2022

Chen, Hongwei ; Hu, Mengyuan ; Chen, Huiyao ; Yang, Juan ; Yang, Fan ; Li, Yahui ; Pan, Zhenzhen ; Pan, Qiming ; Ju, Huili and Zhu, Lihong , et al. (2025) In BMJ Paediatrics Open 9(1).
Abstract
The abrupt relaxation of COVID-19 control measures in China in December 2022 created acute pressures on paediatric healthcare services. We retrospectively evaluated patient visits, healthcare staffing and hospitalisation costs at Wuxi Children’s Hospital, a tertiary paediatric centre. Despite over 40% staff absenteeism due to COVID-19, essential paediatric services remained operational through flexible staffing and workflow adaptations. Patient visits initially surged, particularly for respiratory diseases, but quickly stabilised. Hospitalisation expenses and inpatient stays significantly declined, highlighting the hospital’s capacity for timely operational adaptation. These findings suggest that low-cost practical strategies increased... (More)
The abrupt relaxation of COVID-19 control measures in China in December 2022 created acute pressures on paediatric healthcare services. We retrospectively evaluated patient visits, healthcare staffing and hospitalisation costs at Wuxi Children’s Hospital, a tertiary paediatric centre. Despite over 40% staff absenteeism due to COVID-19, essential paediatric services remained operational through flexible staffing and workflow adaptations. Patient visits initially surged, particularly for respiratory diseases, but quickly stabilised. Hospitalisation expenses and inpatient stays significantly declined, highlighting the hospital’s capacity for timely operational adaptation. These findings suggest that low-cost practical strategies increased healthcare resilience, without compromising patient care, during infectious disease surges in this urban Children’s Hospital. (Less)
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publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
BMJ Paediatrics Open
volume
9
issue
1
article number
e003654
publisher
BMJ Publishing Group
ISSN
2399-9772
DOI
10.1136/bmjpo-2025-003654
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
5d8814dc-9c4f-4bcc-92de-cac64e1a1c10
date added to LUP
2025-07-28 13:24:46
date last changed
2025-07-29 09:50:05
@article{5d8814dc-9c4f-4bcc-92de-cac64e1a1c10,
  abstract     = {{The abrupt relaxation of COVID-19 control measures in China in December 2022 created acute pressures on paediatric healthcare services. We retrospectively evaluated patient visits, healthcare staffing and hospitalisation costs at Wuxi Children’s Hospital, a tertiary paediatric centre. Despite over 40% staff absenteeism due to COVID-19, essential paediatric services remained operational through flexible staffing and workflow adaptations. Patient visits initially surged, particularly for respiratory diseases, but quickly stabilised. Hospitalisation expenses and inpatient stays significantly declined, highlighting the hospital’s capacity for timely operational adaptation. These findings suggest that low-cost practical strategies increased healthcare resilience, without compromising patient care, during infectious disease surges in this urban Children’s Hospital.}},
  author       = {{Chen, Hongwei and Hu, Mengyuan and Chen, Huiyao and Yang, Juan and Yang, Fan and Li, Yahui and Pan, Zhenzhen and Pan, Qiming and Ju, Huili and Zhu, Lihong and Zhang, Le and Zhang, Haoyang}},
  issn         = {{2399-9772}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{07}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{BMJ Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{BMJ Paediatrics Open}},
  title        = {{Resilience of Pediatric Healthcare Services in an Urban Hospital in China During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Late 2022}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjpo-2025-003654}},
  doi          = {{10.1136/bmjpo-2025-003654}},
  volume       = {{9}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}