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Children's Mercy, KU to join in pediatric care allianceDec 03, 2012 (The Kansas City Star - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- After teaming up for years to meet growing demands in child health care, Children's Mercy Hospital and the University of Kansas' major medical forces want to strike a formal alliance. "This makes sense," said Michael Artman, who will be leading an integrated pediatric program that unites Children's Mercy, the University of Kansas Medical Center, the University of Kansas Hospital and the University of Kansas Physicians. "This represents a new era in health care for children in the region," he said. The four partners announced their plans today, saying they will be bringing in a consulting team to help them plan an improved network of services across the region and navigate legislative and political differences across the state line in Medicaid reimbursements and malpractice insurance issues. Artman, who chairs the pediatrics department at Children's Mercy and at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine, said he hopes the teams working with consultants will get initial planning done by the middle of 2013 and be ready to begin putting the new network in action later in the year. The partners will be looking to improve services across the area in medical care, research and education. Because the demand for services at Kansas City area hospitals and clinics is expected to continue growing, the collaboration will not reduce the number of jobs, Artman said. Nor will Children's Mercy's partnership with KU affect its longstanding affiliation with UMKC, he said. Children's Mercy will continue to join in the training of medical students and pediatric residents at UMKC as it now moves to formalize a training partnership with KU. To reach Joe Robertson, call 816-234-4789 or send email to [email protected]. ___ (c)2012 The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Mo.) Visit The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Mo.) at www.kansascity.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |