Low patient demand shuttering Lafayette hospital’s pediatric ICU

Lafayette General Medical Center will soon close its pediatric intensive care unit due to low patient demand, hospital officials tell The Advertiser. The closure will leave Lafayette with only one PICU: a 13-bed unit operated at Women’s & Children’s Hospital. The eight-bed PICU at LGMC had maintained an average census of 1.8 patients per day over the last year, and hospital officials say four patients per day is necessary to keep the unit sustainable. LGMC spokesman Daryl Cetnar says the unit has seen low numbers for the past few years and pointed out that there are times when there is only one patient being treated in the PICU for days at a time. At midday Wednesday, one patient was being treated in the PICU, and the unit was scheduled to close as soon as that patient was discharged, possibly as soon as late Wednesday or early Thursday. All 12 employees in Lafayette General’s PICU will be able to apply for other positions at the hospital, officials say.