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Media Release from Boulder Community Health

Media Release from Boulder Community Health and Children's Hospital Colorado

Boulder Community Health and Children’s Hospital Colorado

Form Care Alliance

The shared goal: Deliver optimal pediatric care to Boulder families

Boulder, CO (March 3, 2017) – Boulder Community Health (BCH), Boulder County’s only independent, non-profit health system, and Children’s Hospital Colorado (Children’s Colorado), one of the nation’s top 10 children’s hospitals, are forming a care alliance to provide Boulder County children and their families with coordinated pediatric care across their respective organizations. The alliance will make it easier and faster for local families to get optimal care. 

The new care alliance will officially start May 1, 2017. As part of the alliance, BCH and Children’s Colorado will initially:

  • Review and collaborate on best-practice treatment protocols for pediatric patients in the Foothills Hospital Emergency Department

  • Expand educational opportunities for the BCH caregivers treating pediatric patients

  • Streamline the referral process for Boulder families needing inpatient care at a Children’s Colorado facility

The majority of local pediatric care will still be provided by Boulder pediatricians, family practitioners, emergency physicians, nurses from the BCH Family Birth Center and therapists from BCH Pediatric Rehabilitation. Thanks to the care alliance, local physicians will now get additional support from Children’s Colorado, including a streamlined process for consulting with Children’s nationally recognized specialists. 

Local families will continue to use the Foothills Hospital Emergency Department and BCH urgent care centers, and also will benefit from improved coordination between BCH ER physicians and specialists at Children’s.

This is truly a win-win situation for local physicians and Boulder families.  Boulder pediatricians and family practitioners will continue to care for Boulder kids.  Families will continue to bring their ill and injured children to our Emergency Department. Newborns will continue to be treated in the Foothills Hospital Intensive Care Nursery. But local families needing inpatient care for their children will have expanded access to one of the best children’s hospitals in the country.

“We are thrilled about the opportunity to expand our positive, longstanding relationship with BCH as well as with local pediatricians, primary care providers and families in Boulder County,” said Jena Hausmann, President and CEO of Children’s Colorado. “This care alliance reinforces our commitment to providing the highest quality of pediatric care for kids in the region.”

“Boulder Community Health’s mission is to provide top-tier medical care to Boulder County families,” said Dr. Robert Vissers, President/Chief Executive Officer of BCH. “We’ve had a long and successful partnership with Children’s Colorado to jointly operate the Intensive Care Nursery at Foothills Hospital. Children’s Colorado is totally focused on pediatrics, providing the entire spectrum of pediatric expertise, and is clearly a tremendous resource for inpatient pediatric care.  We’re enhancing care in our community by partnering with Children’s Colorado.”

For several years, BCH has been experiencing a persistent decline in the number of pediatric inpatients treated at Foothills Hospital as local pediatricians and families have steadily increased their use of Children’s Colorado’s resources for inpatient care.  According to recent Colorado Hospital Association statistics, 64 percent of Boulder children under age 15 requiring hospitalization were admitted to Children’s Colorado.  About 15 percent of Boulder children received inpatient care at BCH. 

Based on those admissions trends and following discussions with our pediatricians, BCH has decided to no longer provide inpatient care for children under age 15, effective May 1. The only exception will be newborns and infants up to four weeks old, who will still be treated in BCH’s Intensive Care Nursery.

It is anticipated that the care alliance will evolve as BCH and Children’s Colorado identify further ways to work together for the health of Boulder County families.  BCH’s strategic vision is to partner with outstanding health care organizations that can support us in making Boulder the healthiest community in the nation.  The recently opened CU Sports Medicine and Performance Center, a partnership between BCH and the CU School of Medicine, is another example of this vision in action.

Children’s Colorado has a long history of partnering with community hospitals to provide pediatric care close to home and believes children across the western United States should be able to benefit from the knowledge and experience of its pediatric experts. Through care alliances, care is provided in partnership with community hospitals, providers and caregivers, making it possible for children and families to access the expertise available at Children’s Colorado in their home communities.