Over the past two decades, Akron (Ohio) Children’s has prioritized strategic partnerships to bring pediatric specialty care closer to home for more patients.
Recognizing the unique needs of each community is essential to doing so successfully, COO Lisa Aurilio, MSN, RN, told Becker’s.
“We absolutely do not take a cookie-cutter approach,” she said. “Every partner is different, so we want to make sure the services we’re bringing are targeting the needs of that specific partner or community.”
The system has partnered with Cincinnati-based Bon Secours Mercy Health for 20 years, providing all pediatric services in the Youngstown and Lorain, Ohio, markets. Since entering the region in 2008, Akron Children’s has collaborated with large systems such as Bon Secours as well as smaller community hospitals that include Wooster (Ohio) Community Hospital, a 173-bed facility.
Effective partnerships, she said, are built on a mutual understanding of each organization’s strengths — and a shared willingness to leverage them. For example, when Akron Children’s partners with a community hospital, it benefits from the trust that hospital has established locally as it begins delivering pediatric care.
Partnerships typically begin when adult-focused hospitals have a pediatric segment in their population and seek to enhance those offerings, she said.
“We don’t set out to duplicate services,” Ms. Aurilio said. “We’re there to help augment and support the services that are in the community.”
To further address shortages in pediatric providers, Akron Children’s invests in educational partnerships to build a clinician pipeline. In January, the system launched a two-year associate of applied science in nursing degree program with the University of Akron. Students accepted into the program receive full tuition coverage along with funding for books, uniforms and supplies, creating a cost-effective path to becoming a registered nurse.
Amid a national shortage of pediatric specialists, these collaborative efforts improve access and quality of care, Ms. Aurilio said.
“What we’re able to do is leverage the pediatric specialty provider we do have and extend their care to a larger geography,” she said. “It would be almost impossible for every community to recruit enough pediatric specialists to meet the needs of a small population in one area.”
Through partnerships with adult hospitals and other organizations, Akron Children’s has opened special care nurseries, health centers and, more recently, freestanding pediatric behavioral health centers.
These efforts have improved the patient and family experience, she said, allowing children to receive care closer to home and remain surrounded by their support systems.
“It’s about giving parents the comfort that if they do seek pediatric services in their local community, they have behind them the expertise, standards and care of Akron Children’s Hospital right there in their own community,” Ms. Aurilio said. “That has to be a huge peace of mind when they’re already in a stressful situation.”
