Siena Hospital Debuts Relocated and Reimagined Children’s Emergency Department

Henderson’s only hospital Pediatric Emergency Department Improves ER Experience for Kids and Parents.

Children’s ER now set apart from adult ER and designed just for kids.

LAS VEGAS, December 4, 2023 – Dignity Health-St. Rose Dominican Siena Hospital recently debuted new Children's Emergency Room facilities, expanding and enhancing the ability of Henderson’s only pediatric emergency room to provide quality acute care services for southern Nevada children. 

Building on the Children's ER services the hospital has offered since 2015, the new children’s medical facility features: 

• Dedicated Pediatric ER parking and entrance, set apart from the adult ER
• Nine dedicated Pediatric Emergency beds
• Dedicated pediatric admitting and waiting areas for patients and their parents
• Specially designed kid-friendly atmosphere
• Specially trained ER Doctors, double-boarded in both Pediatrics and Pediatric Emergency Medicine
     • Siena Pediatric ED doctors first complete a three-year Pediatric Residency, then receive an additional three years of Pediatric Emergency Medicine training 

“A visit to the Emergency Room is a scary thing for both a child and a parent,” said Jon Van Boening, President and CEO of Siena Hospital. “Our goal was to create a vastly improved children’s emergency room experience. We started by separating the Children’s ER from the Adult ER. We created a dedicated Pediatric ER entrance and admitting area. Kids no longer experience the chaos that sometimes accompanies an adult emergency room. Children belong in a dedicated Pediatric Emergency facility, under the treatment of exceptional doctors and nurses who are specially trained in caring for these smallest and most precious patients.”

The new Children’s Emergency entrance is located on the north side of Siena Hospital’s Dominican Tower, near the hospital parking garage. Parents will find reserved pediatric ER parking immediately outside the new entrance, just steps from the admission and triage areas. Entrance to the adult ER remains on the south side of the hospital. 

Siena Hospital’s Children’s Emergency Department has been in operation since 2015 and treats more than 10,000 children each year. Population projections anticipate neighborhoods surrounding Siena Hospital will experience greater than five percent growth in pediatric-aged patients over the next five years. 

Dr. Carla Laos, Medical Director of the Siena Pediatric Emergency Department, said, “Children aren’t just little adults. As pediatric emergency physicians, we deal with significant differences while treating children as they grow and develop from infants and toddlers into adolescents. A pediatric emergency department is a critical element in a community’s health care system as it provides specific facilities and trained experts to treat these very special pediatric patients.”

As an example, internal organs are in closer proximity in children than in adults, placing children at higher risk of traumatic injury. Due to children’s lower weight, medication dosages must also be more precisely calculated to avoid negative side effects. Because of these differences, children present a unique challenge during trauma care - anatomically, physiologically, developmentally, and emotionally.  

Mr. Van Boening added, “For 75 years the Henderson community has turned to St. Rose Dominican for compassionate care. I can think of no more important time for that care and compassion than when dealing with a sick child.”

As an additional benefit, the relocation of pediatric emergency services enables the expansion of Siena’s busy Level III Adult Trauma Center, allowing additional beds to be added in the previous pediatric ER space.

Funding for this $2.4 million project was provided through the support of a generous donor to the St. Rose Dominican Health Foundation. The donor wishes to remain anonymous. 

As Nevada’s only faith-based, nonprofit hospital system, Dignity Health-St. Rose Dominican relies on the generous support of the community to continue its mission.

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About Dignity Health-St. Rose Dominican:

Dignity Health-St. Rose Dominican recently celebrated 75 years in southern Nevada, marking the anniversary of the arrival of the seven Adrian Dominican Sisters who founded Rose de Lima Hospital on June 27, 1947. As Nevada’s only not-for-profit, faith-based health system, St. Rose Dominican is still guided by the vision and core values of the Adrian Dominican Sisters in all its endeavors. As the Henderson and Las Vegas communities grow, the St. Rose Dominican health system and its nearly 4,000 employees continue the Sisters’ mission of serving people in need. Dignity Health currently operates three acute care hospitals in southern Nevada and is a member of the multi-state Dignity Health network of nearly 10,000 physicians, 60,000 employees, 41 acute care hospitals, and 400-plus care centers, including hospitals, urgent and occupational care, imaging centers, and primary care clinics. For more information, visit our website at www.strosehospitals.org.