AKRON, Ohio — Hospitals are making many changes in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Akron Children's Hospital has taken steps in hopes of flattening the curve.

  • Visitor screenings and restrictions
  • Tents set up to enhance emergency room capacity
  • All volunteers over 60 years old removed from the hospital's workforce and 700 employees working from home 

The hospital is limiting entry points and screening visitors for illness, travel history and COVID-19 exposure. Only two visitors are allowed per day, per patient. Siblings under 18 years old are not allowed to visit. 
 
"Children may well get this disease and be relatively asymptomatic, that doesn't mean they can't infect grandparents and they just need to be mindful of that. We do have a few children under COVID screening, so far we have not had any positives in children," said Rob McGregor, Chief Medical Officer, Akron Children's Hospital. 
 
The hospital removed all volunteers over 60 years old from the workforce and 700 employees are now working from home.  
 
Heated tents have also been set-up outside of the hospital to enhance the capacity of the emergency room. 
 
"That is really meant to be for a surge, when we really get a big influx, so far we haven't seen that, that would make the emergency department more effective and efficient," said McGregor. 
 
McGregor says the hospital is also preparing to help other hospitals that care for adults — something that could soon be a reality. 
 
"Our patients are relatively spared from what we expect to be happening in the adult systems, so we are actually exploring what areas can we help our adult colleagues with, if the opportunity arises for us to serve we may be able to take our bed capacity and offer that up to our adult colleagues in town."