Ohio State, Children's Hospital Formalize Relationship Through Cooperative Agreement

The Ohio State University College of Medicine and Columbus Childrens Hospital, two healthcare organizations who have worked collaboratively for more than 90 years, have reaffirmed their relationship through the signing of a cooperative agreement. 

Both Childrens and Ohio State are organizations making dramatic strides to enhance healthcare for our community, according to Abigail Wexner, chair of the Childrens Hospital Board.  As two independent organizations, we wanted to define and clarify the nature of our relationships and cooperation going forward, she said.

The primary focus of the agreement was to spell out the nature and structure of the academic relationship between the two organizations.  Ohio States primary teaching of pediatrics to medical students and residents takes place at Childrens Hospital, which serves as the permanent home to the universitys department of pediatrics.  This means that many of Childrens medical staff including pediatric surgical and pathology specialists also hold faculty appointments at Ohio State.  Such academic relationships are common between many of the nations leading medical schools and free-standing childrens hospitals. 

Both Childrens and Ohio State partner with other organizations throughout the community and will continue to do so, says Wexner. Childrens is focused on all the children of this community and bringing to them the best possible pediatric healthcare available.

According to Keith Goodwin, President and Interim Chief Executive Officer of Columbus Childrens, this model has served the community well for nearly a century.  In Columbus, the relationship of The Ohio State University and Childrens Hospital has led to many opportunities for cooperation in education, research and more recently, select clinical programs. Throughout this time, we have worked together successfully while maintaining our status as separate, free-standing healthcare institutions. This agreement affirms that continued commitment for both organizations. 

Our collective goal was to create a common vision around the two organizations for the benefit of patients, medical students, residents, medical staffs and the community as a whole, said Karen Holbrook, president of The Ohio State University.

Dr. Fred Sanfilippo, senior vice president and executive dean for health sciences, dean of the OSU College of Medicine and Public Health and CEO of OSU Medical Center, said the relationship between Ohio State and Childrens continues to grow.

Its easy to come up with a long list of good examples of how collaboration between Ohio State and Childrens has benefited patients and students, said Sanfilippo. As each institution continues to make their marks on the healthcare of the people they serve, its prudent to extend the relationship that we have for many more years to come.