Patient volumes are rising year after year at Shriners Children’s — but access is keeping pace. Through creative programs and partnerships, the health system is finding new ways to reach patients who might otherwise fall through the cracks.
Bill Munley, Southeast market administrator for Tampa, Fla.-based Shriners Children’s, told Becker’s that children are especially at risk of going without medical care. Over the last two years, the system has increased access not only through traditional strategies, such as through primacy care offices, but also by partnering with federally qualified health centers, rural hospitals, critical access hospitals and school districts.
Shriners Children’s operates 26 facilities in North America, including ambulatory surgery centers, multidepartmental clinics and 13 hospitals. Over the last four years, the system has consistently surpassed its own benchmarks for new patients, outpatient clinic visits, in- and outpatient surgeries, average daily census and rehabilitation visits, according to Mr. Munley.
While rising volumes can often signal diminishing access, the health system has multiple programs and partnerships to ensure access remains intact.
Access points include formal telehealth arrangements, self-referral options and participation in clinically integrated networks. Shriners Children’s Greenville (S.C.), where Mr. Munley is based, frequently collaborates with the Ronald McDonald House across the street to accommodate families.
This commitment to care has helped position Greenville as a “global destination center,” according to Mr. Munley. In 2024, Shriners Children’s Greenville treated patients from 43 U.S. states and 46 countries and territories.
Locally, the hospital launched a prenatal education program that connects mothers with its surgeons for free consultations. The most commonly diagnosed condition in these sessions is clubfoot.
“We’re treating patients not even born yet, still in the womb,” Mr. Munley said, laughing. “So you talk about access — there you go.”
About 75% of those prenatal patients have continued their treatment with Shriners Children’s, he said.
In another outreach effort, the system partners with school districts where students’ only access to healthcare may be through a school nurse. At one South Carolina district, a Shriners Children’s physician and nurse screened 17 students — and all 17 needed follow-up care, Mr. Munley said.
“That’s been the big emphasis for us, is working with those underserved areas in addition to everybody else,” he said. “We just want to grow. We want to see more patients, and that’s our mission.”
