Officials with Children’s Hospital at Erlanger announce a management services agreement for Neonatal  Intensive Care Unit services with Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt at both Children’s Hospital at Erlanger and Erlanger East Hospital.
 
The decision to award a management contract for neonatology services to MCJCHV was based on the fact MCJCHV shares similar quality goals and achievements Children’s Hospital at Erlanger strives for, officials said. Beginning  Dec. 4, MCJCHV will manage Children’s Hospital at Erlanger’s  NICU program and provide the department’s medical director and director of nursing. Erlanger  will employ the neonatology physicians and nurse practitioners in the Neonatal ICU at Children’s Hospital at Erlanger and Erlanger East Hospital.   
 
“We feel certain this new agreement between Children’s Hospital at Erlanger and Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt will raise the level of care, services and outcomes for our most vulnerable patients here in the community and throughout the region,” said Children’s Hospital CEO Don Mueller. “They  are ranked as one of the top 10 children’s hospitals in neonatology across  the country by U.S. News and World Report and known internationally for their quality of pediatric care and outcomes.”
 
In May 2017, Erlanger Health System began a Request for Information process for neonatology services at Children’s Hospital as a means of assessing overall quality and safety in the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. This RFI led to applications from three prestigious organizations, including MCJCHV. A multidisciplinary committee, which included maternal fetal medicine physicians, pediatricians, pediatric surgeons, pediatric specialists, nursing and executive leadership met with each of those groups.  After careful consideration of all presentations, data and responses, the committee made the decision to award the neonatology management services agreement to MCJCHV.  
 
“Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt is recognized internationally for its quality of care and proven outcomes; they have an academic mindset and there is also potential for a neonatal training program under this affiliation, which will enhance our commitment to training pediatricians in our Health System,” Mr. Mueller said. 
 
In  2016, the Erlanger Health System and Vanderbilt University Medical Center announced a strategic affiliation agreement which created a collaborative relationship between the two institutions, with Erlanger also joining the Vanderbilt Health Affiliated Network. A key objective of that agreement was to create a pathway for the two institutions to formally collaborate on a broad range of health and wellness initiatives and clinical services. In making that announcement two years ago, Erlanger President and CEO Kevin M. Spiegel, FACHE said that the focus of Erlanger’s affiliation agreement with Vanderbilt was to “enhance cost-effective healthcare, quality and improve patient access to care.”