Shriners Hospitals for Children-Chicago, UI Health to provide specialized pediatric medical services

Shriners Hospitals for Children-Chicago and the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System (UI Health) have signed an affiliation agreement to enhance their existing partnership and provide expanded pediatric specialty medical services to their patients.

The Chicago Shriners Hospital serves children throughout the Midwest from birth to age 18 with specialized orthopaedic care, rehabilitation, and cleft lip and palate repair. UI Health, a public health system based on Chicago's West Side, includes the 495-bed UI Hospital, the 101-bed Children's Hospital University Illinois, an outpatient care center and 13 federally qualified Mile Square Health Centers located throughout Chicago.

This partnership is a result of Shriners Hospital's efforts to collaborate with leading academic medical centers to help reach more children, leveraging the clinical expertise of each organization.

"Both Shriners Hospitals for Children-Chicago and UI Health are experts in their fields," says Bill Kuehn, board chairman, Shriners Hospitals for Children-Chicago. "The affiliation will allow our organizations to complement each other's services. Our mission remains to provide the best possible care to our patients and their families."

"We are very excited by the clinical and educational opportunities presented by the new partnership with Shriners Hospital," said Jerry Bauman, interim vice president for health affairs, University of Illinois. "The affiliation is very much in alignment with our own mission, which is to provide exceptional care to all patients and to reduce health disparities by removing barriers to care."

"Our collaboration will help provide exceptional clinical care to more children in the Chicago area, as well as expand training opportunities for our residents and medical students," said Dr. Dimitri Azar, dean of the UIC College of Medicine.

Shriners Hospital has been a training site for UI Health's orthopaedic residents and other trainees.

Today's announcement reflects a trend in the healthcare industry. By affiliating with a larger health system, the Chicago Shriners Hospital will expand its scope and reach of people served.