Three leading healthcare organizations – Bellin Health, Children’s Wisconsin and ThedaCare – are announcing a new pediatric joint venture with a shared focus on improving the health and well-being of children and adolescents in Northeast and Central Wisconsin, as well as the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Through focused coordination, closer alignment, and resource investments, the partnership will make a meaningful impact on the lives of children, adolescents, their families, and the region’s communities.
The organizations, which will remain independent entities and continue to be responsible for the day-to-day operations of pediatric services at their clinics and facilities, will work closely together to enhance pediatric primary and specialty care to benefit children and adolescents in this growing region. Each partner organization will play an essential role, with direct benefits to patients that include:
- Bringing additional pediatric services and specialists to the region to expand access to local, close-to-home care.
- Reducing the need for children and their families to travel outside the region when a higher level of care is needed.
- Consistent, best-practice standards of care across each organization’s care settings in the region.
- Tailored child and adolescent services that meet community-specific needs with the right resources, expertise, skilled providers and clinical staff, technology and more.
- Better and more efficient care through seamless care coordination and tighter alignment across the three systems.
“Through this partnership, we will create a destination for pediatric health and well-being right here in Northeast Wisconsin,” said Imran Andrabi, MD, President and CEO, ThedaCare. “By working together in new and innovative ways, we will make additional pediatric services available closer to home for people in the region and provide a consistent experience that utilizes best-practice standards of care for patients and families across our organizations.”
“While patients today will continue to see the providers they know and trust at the locations in their communities, when patients need a higher level of care, this partnership will allow us to seamlessly transition that care through greater team connectivity, shared processes, and more,” said Chris Woleske, President and CEO, Bellin Health. “The result will be a better patient experience that saves families valuable time, energy, and cost, allowing them to focus on what matters most — supporting their loved ones.”
“We are excited to partner with the excellent teams at Bellin Health and ThedaCare to ensure more kids have local access to the care and services they need,” said Peggy Troy, President and CEO of Children’s Wisconsin. “As Wisconsin’s only independent pediatric health system, Children’s Wisconsin collaborates with health systems across the state. We will continue to work closely with all of the organizations we do today and are committed to serving as a critical ongoing resource for all our colleagues whose patients need access to the care and services we provide.”
Recognizing that pediatricians and family medicine providers are the vital home base for the children and adolescents the organizations serve, the joint venture will align each partner’s existing primary and pediatric specialty care expertise. Importantly, the partnership builds on the existing long-term relationships between Children’s Wisconsin and ThedaCare, and between ThedaCare and Bellin Health.
For instance, Bellin and ThedaCare have robust primary care networks that together provide more than 180,000 pediatric care visits with nearly 430 providers across approximately 70 locations throughout the region. Children’s Wisconsin has operated a pediatric hospital, including a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and Pediatric Unit, at ThedaCare Regional Medical Center-Neenah since 2001. It also offers dozens of pediatric specialties, including more than 20 in Northeast Wisconsin, and is one of the top-ranked pediatric health systems in the country. Children’s also recently announced plans for a new outpatient clinic representing a significant investment in the region.
A Joint Operating Board with three representatives from each partner organization will govern the joint venture.
Please visit: bellin.org, childrenswi.org or thedacare.org for information about the partnership.
About Bellin Health: Bellin Health, www.bellin.org, is a population health-focused integrated healthcare delivery system based in Green Bay, Wis. It has served people in Northeast Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula since 1908. Bellin Health has more than 5,000 employees and is known for its emphasis on preventive healthcare and is a leader in cardiac, orthopedics, sports medicine, digestive health, mental health, and primary care medicine. It is comprised of Bellin Hospital, Bellin Psychiatric Center, 29 Bellin Health primary care physician clinics, and retail health clinics known as Bellin Health FastCare. Bellin operates Bellin Health Oconto Hospital, a critical care access hospital in Oconto, Wis., Bellin Fitness, Bellin Health Home Care Equipment and Bellin College. The health system also belongs to Bellin Health Partners, a clinically integrated network that includes Bellin Health, its employed providers and independent affiliated providers and Holy Family Memorial in Manitowoc, Wis., and its employed providers.
About Children’s Wisconsin: Children’s Wisconsin is the region’s only independent health care system dedicated solely to the health and well-being of children. The hospital, with locations in Milwaukee and Neenah, Wisconsin, is recognized as one of the leading pediatric health care centers in the United States. It is ranked in six specialty areas in U.S. News & World Report’s 2020-21 Best Children’s Hospitals report. Children’s provides primary care, specialty care, urgent care, emergency care, community health services, foster and adoption services, child and family counseling, child advocacy services and family resource centers. Children’s Wisconsin specialists have had clinics in the northeast region for more than 30 years. In 2001, Children’s began operating a hospital in the Fox Valley, located at ThedaCare Regional Medical Center-Neenah, which includes a 22-bed Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and a 20-bed Pediatric Unit. Children’s Wisconsin Fox Valley Child Advocacy Center opened in 2004 to care for children who have been victims of neglect and abuse.
About ThedaCare: For more than 100 years, ThedaCare® has been committed to finding a better way to deliver serious and complex healthcare to patients throughout Northeast and Central Wisconsin. The organization serves over 200,000 patients annually and employs more than 6,700 healthcare professionals throughout the region. ThedaCare has seven hospitals located in Appleton, Neenah, Berlin, Waupaca, Shawano, New London and Wild Rose, as well as 32 clinics in nine counties. ThedaCare is the first in Wisconsin to be a Mayo Clinic Care Network Member, giving specialists the ability to consult with Mayo Clinic experts on a patient’s care. ThedaCare is a non-profit healthcare organization with a level II trauma center, comprehensive cancer treatment, stroke and cardiac and orthopedic programs, as well as a foundation dedicated to community service. For more information, visit http://www.thedacare.org or follow ThedaCare on Facebook and Twitter.
Contact Information:
Bellin Health
Kelly McBride Moore
Team Leader, Communications and Public Affairs
(920) 421-3443
Kelly.mcbridemoore@bellin.org
Children’s Wisconsin
Andy Brodzeller
External Communication Manager
(414) 266-4797
abrodzeller@chw.org
ThedaCare
Cassandra Wallace
Public and Media Relations Consultant
(920) 442-0328
Cassandra.wallace@thedacare.org
