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California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC), part of the Sutter Health network, and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford have formed a collaborative relationship that will increase access to highly specialized inpatient hospital care for children in Northern California.
Pediatric specialty physicians from CPMC and Packard Children's work side by side at the inpatient units at the California Campus of CPMC. The two organizations have created an entity that will provide day-to-day oversight and support for the collaborative effort. Inpatient units will remain under the CPMC license, and CPMC will have the overall responsibility for patient care.
Pediatric specialists from Packard Children's provide on-call specialty coverage at CPMC, and more specialties are being phased in over time. In addition, Packard Children's physicians will hold outpatient clinics in San Francisco so they can follow patients who have been hospitalized at CPMC.
"As a result of this new relationship, children in San Francisco and the North Bay will have convenient access to more highly specialized inpatient care than ever before," reported Warren Browner, MD, MPH, CEO of CPMC. "Packard Children's physicians are highly skilled in caring for some of the most complex pediatric cases. This will further augment the expert, personalized care provided at CPMC."
"Our physicians and staff are excited to join with CPMC physicians in providing world-class care to Bay Area families," said Christopher Dawes, president and CEO of Packard Children's. "CPMC is the perfect organization for us to collaborate with. It has a long-standing and superb reputation in the community and with physicians."
Kenneth Cox, MD, chief medical officer at Packard Children's, stated, "This is an exciting new venture for both CPMC and Packard. There will be tremendous benefits for children who require the hospitals' superior care."
The collaboration will allow both health care organizations to succeed in a challenging pediatric care environment, added Lorry Frankel, MD, chair of the CPMC Pediatric Division. "Across the country, inpatient care programs are struggling. Children's hospitals are consolidating, pediatric inpatient care volumes are declining, and recruitment of pediatric specialists is becoming increasingly challenging. With this new relationship physicians associated with two superb providers of pediatric care can continue to do what they do best and create a situation where we are better together."
CPMC and Packard Children's have collaborated informally on complex pediatric cases for several years, Dr. Frankel said. "The informal relationship has been extremely successful. "Now, CPMC will have enhanced ability to provide care to high-acuity, complex pediatric cases."
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