The MetroHealth System and UH Rainbow Babies & Children's expand collaboration for pediatric care

New agreement focused on expanding acute inpatient pediatric services and a wide array of pediatric specialty care.

The MetroHealth System and University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s announced an expansion of their collaboration to bring high-quality pediatric specialty care to more patients across Northeast Ohio.

The two hospitals will work together to enhance the strong foundation of care at MetroHealth with the national expertise of UH Rainbow.  Specifically, this agreement focuses on the delivery of acute and specialty services such as those in pediatric inpatient and intensive care units.

Additionally, the expansion extends to the multitude of pediatric specialty care through MetroHealth’s network, including outpatient surgical and medical specialty programs.

This collaboration enables top clinicians to be part of a large and diverse program and deliver care where the patient is best served -- in their community and close to home.  For the vast pediatric primary care practice throughout MetroHealth, this move enables seamless access to the next levels of care for their patients within The MetroHealth System. 

This is a wonderful collaboration between two health systems who are committed to doing what is best for our most vulnerable neighbors,” said MetroHealth President and CEO Akram Boutros, MD, FACHE. “MetroHealth patients will be able to tap into Rainbow’s expertise to provide the highest quality of pediatric specialty care in west side locations. MetroHealth is relentlessly working on meeting the needs of our community, and this collaboration is another example of that.”

“This expansion reflects our two institutions’ shared focus to improve the health and wellbeing of the community we serve and educate the next generation of clinicians,” said University Hospitals CEO Cliff Megerian, MD. “This is an exciting step in our growing collaboration and the future of healthcare in Northeast Ohio.”

“For the last two years, our collaboration with MetroHealth has positively enhanced access to pediatric specialty care in the community and this expansion will build upon the great foundation of collaborative, patient-centered care,” said Patricia DePompei, RN, MSN, president of UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital and UH MacDonald Women’s Hospital.

The arrangement is an expansion of a collaboration first started in 2019, when UH Rainbow began offering pediatric specialty services at MetroHealth such as pediatric radiology, general surgery, nephrology, cardiology, urology, and gastroenterology. These services are offered by UH Rainbow physicians at the MetroHealth main campus and complement MetroHealth’s current pediatric services.

“Our providers are dedicated to delivering the highest quality, coordinated healthcare for Northeast Ohio’s children and beyond, from birth through young adulthood, and this unique collaboration will greatly support seamless primary and critical care.” added Marlene Miller, MD, MSc, Pediatrician-in-Chief at UH and Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at UH Rainbow.

The agreement will go into effect Summer 2021.