PRINCETON, NJ – University Medical Center at Princeton, N.J., is partnering with the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia to enhance  pediatric services at all levels - including emergency, inpatient and neonatal intensive care.

Beginning this summer, physicians and other healthcare professionals from Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, or CHOP, will provide services for children at UMCP as part of CHOP Pediatric Care at UMCP and CHOP Newborn Care at UMCP.

CHOP will provide pediatric hospitalist physicians on-site to care for children and adolescents who are admitted to UMCP's pediatric unit. The hospitalists also will provide pediatric consultation to the UMCP emergency department and the "Well Baby" nursery, as well as administer sedation to children if needed.

"CHOP Pediatric and Newborn Care at UMCP is a very exciting development for us," says Barry S. Rabner, president and CEO of the Princeton HealthCare System. "It is the result of a great deal of hard work by many physicians and administrators at both institutions."

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is generally considered one of the leading pediatric hospitals and research facilities in the world. U.S. News & World Report ranked CHOP first nationally among pediatric hospitals for the sixth consecutive year in 2008.

Hospitals sharing services and personnel may be a growing trend in difficult economic times.

"We are grateful for the opportunity to work with UMCP to extend exceptional pediatric care to families closer to their homes, in their own communities," said Madeline Bell, executive vice president and COO at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Bell said the new pediatric hospitalist program is intended to support the work of pediatricians currently on staff at PHCS, who will have the option of either caring for their own patients in the pediatric unit or transferring care of their patients to the CHOP pediatric hospitalist.

In addition, CHOP will provide board-certified neonatologists to provide care in the NICU and attend high-risk deliveries as requested.

Rabner said all PHCS physicians and employees who care for children will have access to the educational services, programs and resources of CHOP's education programs, as well as educational programs offered by UMCP.

CHOP will also provide PHCS with consultation on pediatric issues (such as the development of pediatric facilities, enhancing family-centered care) on an intermittent basis.

Photo by Jeffrey M. Vinocur.