Memorial Hospital, UMMC announce pediatric collaboration
Published on Monday, March 19, 2018
By: Annie Oeth
A new collaboration between Memorial Hospital at Gulfport and Children’s of Mississippi will offer enhanced medical care to Gulf Coast children and families. This includes the planned acquisition of four of six Memorial pediatric clinics and a management arrangement for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Memorial.
The staff will remain the same at the Gulf Coast pediatric clinics located in Bay St. Louis, Biloxi, Orange Grove, and Gulfport. New changes, coming March 26, will include the Children’s of Mississippi branding as well as the specialized care and expertise of the University of Mississippi Medical Center.
Children’s of Mississippi is the umbrella organization that includes Batson Children’s Hospital and all UMMC pediatric care.
"Memorial and UMMC are similar institutions with similar cultures, values and beliefs, and dedication to provide high quality and excellent patient care," said Gary Marchand, president and chief executive officer of Memorial. "Together, through our partnership with Children's of Mississippi, we will preserve the long-term viability of pediatric services currently available and provide for more convenient access to specialty care for our youngest residents."
“Our goal is to touch the lives of Mississippi’s children,” said Guy Giesecke, CEO of Children’s of Mississippi. “By providing care closer to home for coastal families, we seek to partner with Memorial Hospital at Gulfport in giving children in the Mississippi Gulf Coast region the healthiest start in life.”
In January, UMMC began managing the Memorial NICU, the Mississippi Gulf Coast’s only Level III unit. Offering around-the-clock care to newborns with special needs, the recently updated unit has 11 semi-private rooms with 23 NICU beds. Children’s of Mississippi operates the state’s only Level IV NICU in Jackson.
UMMC will also take over staffing of Memorial's pediatric hospitalist service. Hospitalists are in-house physicians who focus exclusively on hospitalized patients. Once a patient is discharged from the hospital, the patient will once again receive care from their referring or primary care physician.
