Riverside Healthcare partners with University of Chicago Medicine

Comer Children's award-winning physicians to provide inpatient pediatric care in Kankakee

May 13, 2016

Riverside Healthcare has announced it will partner with the University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children's Hospital to bring world-class, inpatient care to pediatric patients in Kankakee, Iroquois, Will and Grundy counties.

Under the agreement announced Friday, May 13, a team of five Comer Children's pediatric hospitalists will provide around-the-clock inpatient care to children at the Magnet-designated Riverside Medical Center. The Kankakee hospital has 312 licensed beds with a designated area for pediatric care. The pediatric hospitalists will also be available to provide consultations to the Riverside emergency department.

Hospitalists are specially trained physicians who treat patients when they are admitted to a hospital, while working closely with other specialists and a patient's primary care physician. The growing field is increasingly relied upon by health systems to efficiently care for patients.

"Many of Riverside's youngest patients already travel to Comer Children's in Hyde Park if they need advanced specialty care, particularly from our pediatric and neonatal intensive care units," said John M. Cunningham, MD, chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Chicago. "This partnership brings our expertise to Kankakee and ensures continuity of care for children and their families."

Comer Children's hospitalists began weekend coverage at Riverside Medical Center on May 1 and will expand to 24/7 coverage on Aug. 1.

"We are very proud of the partnership we have established with Comer Children's Hospital," said Riverside President and CEO Phil Kambic. "We have tremendous confidence this relationship will improve the already outstanding delivery of pediatric inpatient care to the region. It will be an important compliment to the great work being done by our area pediatricians."

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Infobox: News conference on new Riverside Health/Comer Children's partnership
Who: Hospital leaders from Riverside Medical Center and Comer Children's Hospital
What: News conference announcing new pediatric hospitalist partnership
When: 11 a.m. Friday, May 13, 2016
Where: 350 N. Wall St. Kankakee, Ill.

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