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Partnership will bring Nemours' pediatric expertise for inpatient care and outpatient specialties
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Martin Health System and Nemours Children's Health System have affiliated to improve pediatric specialty care for Treasure Coast residents. The affiliation will take effect in January 2019.
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Nemours is among the nation's premier pediatric health systems, with more than 90 locations spread through six states. Nemours Children's Hospital opened in Orlando in October 2012 offering care for the most complex pediatric conditions. In less than six years of operations, the hospital has twice been recognized as a "Top Children's Hospital" by the Leapfrog Group, one of America's most respected organizations for measuring healthcare quality and safety. Both times, the hospital was one of only nine in the nation to earn the honor.
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Nemours will provide pediatric hospitalists and neonatologists who specialize in the care of acutely ill infants, children and adolescents at Tradition Medical Center, which opened an eight-bed pediatric unit earlier this year and in October 2017 expanded its Level II neonatology unit.
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The agreement also includes Nemours pediatric cardiologists providing care at Tradition Medical Center. Nemours is exploring opportunities to expand outpatient pediatric services to the region in the near future.
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Martin Health currently has outpatient pediatric physician offices in Stuart, Jensen Beach and St. Lucie West, which have been recognized by the American Academy of Pediatrics as a Patient-Centered Medical Home. Martin Health also has outpatient pediatric rehabilitation locations in St. Lucie West and Jensen Beach.
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"Nemours has a tremendous reputation for providing comprehensive pediatric care services and we share a philosophy of putting patients and their families at the center of everything we do," said Libby Flippo, Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer and Patient Care Services for Martin Health System. "We believe this partnership will provide Treasure Coast families with the peace of mind that comes from knowing their children are in expert hands."
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Nemours employs 250 pediatric specialists in Florida, working in primary, specialty and urgent care locations, in addition to the Orlando hospital. These experts are spread from Pensacola to Jacksonville and from Lakeland to Vero Beach.
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"Nemours is focused on bringing our expertise closer to families so they face fewer hurdles accessing the care their child needs," said Martha McGill, enterprise vice president and chief of network operations for Nemours in Florida. "We are so happy to come together with Martin Health to serve more Treasure Coast families."
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For Martin Health, this is the second major affiliation announced this year. In January 2018, it announced an affiliation with the Cleveland Clinic Heart and Vascular Institute and has since entered into an agreement to explore opportunities for Martin Health and Cleveland Clinic to merge or otherwise broadly expand their relationship. Those discussions are not related in any way to the affiliation with Nemours for pediatrics.
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