A proposal by the Virginia Children's Hospital Alliance to open an independent children's hospital in the Richmond, Va., area is relatively unusual; many of the 200-plus children's hospitals in the United States are part of larger health systems, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Christine Hartwell of Richmond-based CH Strategy Consulting said approximately 50 hospitals nationwide are considered independent.
"They have been the same 50 for decades," Ms. Hartwell said. "There is some support for the argument that there haven't been many new independent children's hospitals."
Two other Richmond-based systems, Virginia Commonwealth University Health System and Bon Secours Richmond Health System, recently withdrew from talks on collaboration with the effort. The systems' reasoning included costs, issues with governance structure and a changing healthcare marketplace.
Although the Richmond area has been called one of the largest markets without a freestanding children's hospital, the new effort would need to be supported by other systems in the area.