MemorialCare Miller Children’s and Women’s Hospital in Long Beach and physician services provider Pediatrix Medical Group have partnered to create a children’s and women’s neonatal network.
The network partnership, announced last month, enables coordinated delivery of provider services to the neonatal intensive care unit network, as well as improving communication and financial transparency.
The neonatal work will be jointly governed by the hospital and by Sunrise, Florida-based Pediatrix, though the neonatologists will remain employees of Pediatrix.
Miller Children’s and Women’s Hospital has a level 4 neonatal intensive care unit, the highest designation in California, signifying it can care for the sickest and smallest babies and can perform major surgeries. It also has a care program for babies less than two pounds at birth and a transport program that can bring in more complex patient cases from area community hospitals.
The expanded neonatal network will also enhance regional care by facilitating the recruitment of pediatric specialists.
“Expanding Miller Children’s and Women’s Hospital Long Beach as a regional destination for neonatal and pediatric care is an important part of our mission in caring for the most premature and sickest babies, as well as their families,” Yair Katz, the hospital’s chief executive, said in the announcement.
The hospital has also appointed Antoine Soliman as the regional medical director of the new neonatal network. A practicing neonatologist and current medical director of the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit, Soliman will oversee the performance and quality of the network, lead the onboarding of new sites and serve on the joint operating committee. He will continue to lead the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit until a replacement is named.
“Miller Children’s and Women’s (Hospital) has made great advances in neonatal care the last few years, graduating healthier babies born quite ill and extremely premature,” Soliman said in the announcement. “Our team is remarkable and expanding our capabilities further into the community is paramount to us.”
Miller Children’s and Women’s Hospital, which is part of the Fountain Valley-based MemorialCare health system, is one of only eight freestanding children’s hospitals in California, and one of only three in Los Angeles County (the others being Children’s Hospital Los Angeles in East Hollywood and Shriners Children’s Hospital – Southern California in Pasadena).
Pediatrix Medical Group is a publicly-traded company that provides specialized and often critical care services through more than 5,000 affiliated physicians and other clinicians in 37 states. The company posted revenue of nearly $2 billion last year.
