His mother, who'd visited him every day in the ER, came in after the outbreak and burst into tears at the sight of her little boy in restraints. One ER crisis had become two. Doctors know how to help children like this boy. With its wooden furniture and soft lights, the unit doesn't look like a hospital. This is the kind of therapeutic environment young patients need to start the healing process.
Trouble is, the unit is almost always full.
On another floor at Children's is the general medical unit with its harsh lighting, IV poles, monitoring devices. In the midst of stretchers and nurses, I pass a room with a boarder kid, an autistic child with behavior problems. He's been boarding for six weeks. Five years ago, boarder kids were rare. Now they're a common feature in many hospitals from Maine to Maryland.