St. Joseph Health, Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals partner to expand pediatric services
Partnership will bring additional obstetrical and subspecialty care, develop telehealth services, and expand education for medical students.
Photo by UCSF
St. Joseph Health, Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital and UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals are joining forces to enhance and expand neonatal and pediatric services, the organizations announced this week.
UCSF Health will continue to provide consultant services to women with high-risk pregnancies at its Prenatal Diagnostic Center in Santa Rosa, California, serving as an option for women in the North Bay area seeking specialized women's health services.
For many years, UCSF has provided medical education and specialty physician services to the Sonoma County community, with many of those programs in collaboration with St. Joseph Health. Since 2000, Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital has had an agreement with UCSF to operate its Intensive Care Nursery; it offers neonatal care in the North Bay region, and is designated by California Children's Services as a Level III Community Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for the level of care it offers to fragile, critically ill newborns.
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Under the new affiliation, UCSF outpatient pediatric specialty practices will partner with Annadel Medical Group pediatricians to expand the availability of subspecialty care available at a clinic located in one of Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital's facilities. The services available there include hematology, endocrinology and diabetes services, gastroenterology, cardiology, neurology, organ transplantation support and nephrology, among others. Additionally, St. Joseph Health will expand obstetrical care at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.
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As part of the affiliation, the organizations will develop telehealth services with the aim of boosting access to to pediatric physician specialists, and provide the chance for UCSF medical students and residents to participate in clinical rotations at St Joseph Health facilities, including Santa Rosa Memorial and Petaluma Valley hospitals. The partnership is also expected to create educational programs for physicians, nurses and support staff, and grow the obstetrical, neonatal and pediatric service lines through program development.
Todd Salnas, president of St Joseph Health in Sonoma County, said in a statement that the biggest impact of the affiliation "will be greater access to specialty coverage."
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