We met with the hospital today, and they updated us on all the changes that are in process due to Liberty’s stay with them.

1. The kitchen is in process of revamping the foods they order and how they order it, so they can provide a full menu to patients who have dairy allergies, nut allergies, gluten allergies, or food dye allergies (as well as possibly other common allergens of which I am unaware)

2.  The I.T. Department has it on their to-do list to reprogram the computer data system during their next scheduled system update, so that when red dye is entered as an allergen, it will automatically send an alert to both the kitchen AND the pharmacy instead of only to the kitchen as it has in the past.

3. The pharmacy has been re-educating their pharmacists on what to do when a red dye alert comes through.  They already have a double-checking system in place, but the pharmacists were not following it.  Thus, inaccurate medications were being sent to patients.  That has been addressed and is continuing to be addressed.

4. All nurses and care providers are being re-educated on the importance of double-checking all medications sent up from Pharmacy before offering it to their patients, and a system is being put in place on each floor to mark medicines better for ease of checking.

5. The need for having dye-free liquid medications on hand - particularly the most common meds like Tylenol, Ibuprofen, Oxycodone and Benadryl - has been expressed to the correct people who can make that happen, and the idea of this hospital going completely dye-free for ALL medications has been sent up the chain.  We have been told the “higher ups” are taking our complaints seriously, and this is something that is now in process.  It sounds like it is a long process.  However, the new information that Liberty’s situation brought to light has shown that this is a serious medical need for many people, and they are treating it as such.

We are to be kept updated monthly as the process continues.  Please keep praying for all of these changes to take place and to be finalized for future patients.

I have had another parent contact me regarding serious troubles her children have faced with the hospital not carrying dye-free medications, and that story has been passed on to our contacts at the hospital.  If the need arises in the future, we can all have a conversation together with hospital leaders, but it sounds like right now Liberty’s situation alone was serious enough to get their attention.  The second story came in handy today to illustrate that this has been an on-going problem there, not just a “supply chain problem” as was suggested today.

Hooray for God and for all the children who come after who will benefit from this!  Liberty has been praying for this since the beginning, and she is encouraged to hear this latest news!  We all are. 😊