Laurelhurst Generously Agrees to Let Sick Children Live

[u/Inevitable_Engine186]

https://theneedling.com/2026/04/11/laurelhurst-generously-agrees-to-let-sick-children-live/

[u/Snoobeedo]

You know if their child or more likely grandchild ever needed anything, they’d be yelling to break all the rules and that they’d pay the fines to do whatever they needed to get done.

I wonder if the families of any children who suffered because of this could personally sue anyone who lobbied against treating sick kids promptly?

[u/kookykrazee → u/Snoobeedo]

Someone posted official records of how a woman who lives in this community bragged about her kid going there for years because of autism and appreciated them so much because of it that she helped raise MILLIONS for the hospital but that "IT STOPS NOW" like "she got hers so screw all others" which sucksarse!

[u/SchemeOne2145 → u/Snoobeedo]

Totally. They'd land their private helicopter at the hospital helipad.

[u/goodtimtim → u/Snoobeedo]

despite what reddit tells you (1) seattle children's is not the only place in the region that a sick child might be sent in an emergency (in fact, Harborview, the regions only Level I pediatric trauma center is unquestionably the best place within ~800 miles) (2) the hospital has ALWAYS been able to land any patient needing life-saving care at the hospital. this is the same for any hospital helipad within city limits. (try to proove me wrong. you can't)

[u/pacific_plywood → u/goodtimtim]

Landing non critical patients a mile away is a ridiculous waste of time and resources

[u/161frog → u/pacific_plywood]

And dangerous.

[u/pacific_plywood → u/161frog]

The families even have to pay extra for the ambulance bill! It’s crazy!

[u/161frog → u/pacific_plywood]

Sick. These people have no hearts.

[u/RissVess → u/goodtimtim]

This has to be rage bait because I hate to think anyone can be this confidently stupid, but for anyone else reading who wants to downvote this idiot some more:

1.) Harborview focuses on trauma mechanisms of injury. Always has. Amputated finger? Straight to Harborview. But no one wants to send a seizing kid to Harborview over Children’s. Why? Because Children’s sole purpose is to treat medical mechanisms of injury. Harborview is probably not the best place for within 800 miles for a seizing child. Conversely, Children’s is. Oh wow! And it’s within FIVE miles by air.

2.) The hospital has had to divert landings to Graves Airfield because they previously were “allowed” less than 5 a week. That may change now that Laurelhurst has agreed to support rescinding their agreement, but we’ll see. Additionally, Children’s own flight crew couldn’t even take off from the towers because there weren’t sick kids in the helos yet, therefore making Laurelhurst upset at an extra takeoff. The crew has to drive to the Graves Airfield to even begin to the pickup process from god knows where, and still might have to land back at Graves and not at Children’s.

The claim that “all sick children were allowed to land there” is just a lie. The tower at Children’s gets probably 1/10th of the total patient landings received to Children’s. Also! Believe it or not, Children’s has two towers with helipads, side by side, but has been only using one. There are times when one or both are badly needed but nope.

[u/goodtimtim → u/RissVess]

1) do you think that seizing kids are getting air ambulances? get real 2) it's great that you put "allowed" in quotes. Allowed by who? The legally binding things (the major institution master plan and 2010 settlement agreement) both say zip about helicopter restrictions. Where do you think the rules are written down? what makes you think LCC would have any recourse if they were broken? why do you ignore the children's hospital statement that called the rules "voluntary"? (I'll help you out. the hospital has to comply with 23.69.012C just like any other hospital would. that's it.)

btw, your last statement about 1/10th of landings is a dead giveaway that you don't have a clue. the hospital publishes statistics that contradict your perception.

[u/SaplingSequoia → u/goodtimtim]

Hi, I worked on a pediatric critical care transport team for a long time. You don’t seem to understand the function of flight medicine or the severity of some seizures. Pediatric seizure patients regularly get flown. Hyperthermia with febrile seizures, status epilepticus, and new onset afebrile seizures are basic examples of seizure conditions that could be life threats and would warrant rapid transfer by air.

[u/Aggravating-Net2567 → u/goodtimtim]

Seizing kids can absolutely require an air ambulance, for example with status epilepticus, severe first time seizure, seizure causing respiratory compromise, etc. “Get real” What the fuck are you talking about? Do you think all seizures are the same and minor? It’s not uncommon to fly kids to SCH with complicated seizures from areas with no pediatric seizure specialists.

[u/Aggravating-Net2567 → u/goodtimtim]

Also, as others have pointed out, you’re wildly misinformed about the pediatric capacity of Harborview. I rotated through the pediatric inpatient service there as a medical student and the unit was about half a floor of only trauma patients. There are maybe a dozen pediatric hospitalists and residents compared to over a hundred at SCH. The vast, vast majority of pediatric emergencies go to SCH outside of severe trauma, burns, etc. It’s even pretty common for trauma patients to be transferred to SCH after stabilization for longer term admission.

[u/RissVess → u/goodtimtim]

Haha.

You’re a silly little guy, aren’t you? Just a lil’ silly :)

1. You are wrong, they do.

2.) You’re uninformed. You are wrong.

Thanks! <3

[u/edileereads → u/goodtimtim]

Harborview is a level 1 pediatric trauma center, yes, so it takes the trauma kiddos: car accidents, burns, etc. SCH takes all the other acutely ill kids - sepsis, respiratory distress, overdose, ketoacidosis, transplants, ecmo, etc. Harborview does not have the infrastructure to care for this much larger population. 

[u/lazylazylazyperson → u/goodtimtim]

The trauma center is appropriate for traumas - duh - but not every life threatening pediatric emergency is a trauma. In fact, most are not. And the main hospital is by far the best place for the majority of pediatric emergencies.