Lehigh Valley Health Network is partnering with another major pediatric system to provide enhanced and collaborative care to children and families in the region.
LVHN and its subsidiaries, including Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital, have entered into an affiliation agreement with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, according to a release Thursday.
The CHOP-LVHN affiliation will allow both organizations to optimally care for children, including those with high-risk, high-complexity, rare and acute diagnoses.
The two systems will also work to ensure that children needing care see the most appropriate clinical team at the right time, and at the most appropriate location that is closest to their home and family.
“This affiliation is going to help us go beyond the referral process. It’s about building relationships and working together to provide our patients with the best care,” said Dr. J. Nathan Hagstrom, Physician in Chief at Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital.
LVHN said its clinicians have had a longstanding relationship with their counterparts at CHOP and collaborated in multiple clinical areas.
The release said the new affiliation creates a more formalized process between the two entities to care for shared patients, combining CHOP’s expertise in rare and complex diseases with LVHN’s pediatric care.
The two health networks will also advance their educational and research capabilities and identify opportunities to build shared programs and services.
“The CHOP-LVHN affiliation will strengthen the channels of communication, cooperation and learning between two world-class children’s hospitals to ultimately improve the overall care and experience for patients and their families,” Dr. Steve Docimo, Executive Vice President of Business Development and Strategy at CHOP, said in the release.
Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital is the third-largest children’s hospital in Pennsylvania and provides a range of specialty services and pediatric care.
The 595-bed Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia was founded in 1855 as the nation’s first pediatric hospital, and today includes one of the largest pediatric research programs in the country.
(Original air-date: 9/22/23)
