Akron Children's Prepares For COVID-19 Case Surge As Summit County Nears Highest Risk Level

Akron Children’s Hospital is not yet at capacity but remains on standby in case Summit County reaches Level 4, or purple, on the state’s public health advisory alert system soon.

The hospital is prepared to care for young adults up to 35-years-old who are COVID-19 positive.

The hospital has trained around 400 staff members to treat older patients, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Rob McGregor said. And the hospital is carefully evaluating capacity to convert a large number of beds to negative-pressure areas for COVID-19 patients, if necessary. That would prevent recirculation of the air and vent it outdoors.

“Other than adjusting more areas of the hospital if we’re bringing adults, we’d certainly keep [adults] in a location that's separate from the kids, or at least relatively separate from the kids — one wing of a ward as opposed to the whole floor," McGregor said. "And I think we would have to look at our staffing and make sure we make adjustments so that those that are credentialed to take care of adults are able to be deployed to those areas.”

The hospital also has enough monoclonal antibodies — antibody proteins cloned in a laboratory that mimic the immune system's ability to fight off harmful antigens such as the coronavirus — to provide passive immunity for those most at risk. The treatment does not prevent the virus, but it does help reduce symptoms during early stages of infection and promote healing.

McGregor also said the hospital has sufficient personal protective equipment for workers. There is no plan to cancel elective surgeries at this point.

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