M&A Roundup: Cincinnati Children's Signs Affiliation with TN Hospital

As 2012 winds down, healthcare consolidation continues.

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center has signed an agreement to provide children at Niswonger Children's Hospital, a Mountain States Health Alliance affiliate in Johnson City, TN access to specialized services.

"This affiliation will not only help us improve the care we can offer at Niswonger Children's Hospital, but it will also allow us to keep more children close to home for their care," Steven Godbold, MSHA vice president and CEO of Niswonger Children's Hospital, said in a media release. "We're excited to be able to tap into the clinical expertise of such a world-renowned organization to benefit children and families right here at home."

Under the agreement, Cincinnati Children's will:

• Create and manage an onsite hospitalist program that will collaborate with the faculty at East Tennessee State University's James H. Quillen College of Medicine.  The program will focus on quality improvement, standardization of best practices, patient safety, and driving down costs.
• Provide electronic interpretation of electroencephalograms (Tele-EEGs) by pediatric neurophysiologists to diagnose epilepsy and other neurological disorders.

"We are looking forward to working with our colleagues at Niswonger Children's to enhance existing health care capabilities and address specific unmet needs for patients and families in the region," said Arnold W. Strauss, MD, director of the Cincinnati Children's Research Foundation.

Niswonger operates 69 licensed beds, including 39 beds for neonatal intensive care. It is the region's only state-designated perinatal center, and serves more than 200,000 children in 29 counties in four states.