Mercy Health – Children’s Hospital and Nationwide Children’s Hospital Announce Affiliation

December 17, 2019

Mercy Health – Children’s Hospital and Nationwide Children’s Hospital are pleased to announce an innovative affiliation to enhance pediatric health care services for children and their families in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan.

The two children’s hospitals have entered a partnership to offer patients at Mercy Health – Children’s Hospital greater access to cost-effective pediatric services, outstanding continuum of care within the region, and seamless access to Nationwide Children’s providers as needed. They will work collaboratively to share best practices for clinical and non-clinical operations to further Mercy Health –Children’s Hospital’s 20-year legacy of high-quality, compassionate and expert delivery of care.

The hospitals will collaborate on population health initiatives, as well as research integration. For example, Mercy Health – Children’s Hospital patients will have access to cancer clinical trials consortium at Nationwide Children’s to provide patients with access to cutting edge cancer treatments. The affiliation will also enhance recruitment, retention and training of pediatric physicians and staff, and develop an enhanced network of local and regional based pediatric providers through expanded services, educational opportunities and operational resources.

"Mercy Health – Children’s Hospital and Nationwide Children’s Hospital are driven to provide the highest quality and most diverse pediatric health care services in our region and therefore minimize the need for families to leave our community to receive care," said Bob Baxter, president, Mercy Health – Toledo. "Individually, our children’s hospitals have long provided expert care to our youngest patients. This collaboration will offer more healing opportunities for these patients so that our children and their families can concentrate on becoming well."

Nationwide Children’s is a nationally recognized pediatric hospital and research center. Consistently named to U.S. News & World Report’s Honor Roll list of America’s top 10 children’s hospitals, Nationwide Children’s has more than 1.5 million patient visits each year representing patients from all 50 states and 45 countries.

"Nationwide Children’s is committed to innovative partnerships that allow families to receive high-quality pediatric care in their community whenever possible, while ensuring continuity of care for cases in which a family needs to travel for certain services," said Rick Miller, president and chief operating officer at Nationwide Children’s. "We look forward to working closely with Mercy Health leadership, physicians and clinical staff to serve children and families throughout northwest Ohio."

About Mercy Health – Toledo

Mercy Health – Toledo is part of Bon Secours Mercy Health, one of the 20 largest health systems in the United States and the fifth-largest Catholic health system in the country. The ministry’s quality, compassionate care is provided by more than 60,000 associates serving communities in Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, New York, Ohio, South Carolina and Virginia, as well as throughout Ireland. Locally, Mercy Health is based in Toledo, Ohio, and serves 20 counties in Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan. Mercy Health – Toledo provides comprehensive primary and critical care services to residents and Life Flight critical air transport services. Mercy Health – Children’s Hospital provides expert pediatric care. Mercy College of Ohio, which is sponsored by Mercy Health, provides health care and health science higher education programs and degrees. With approximately 8,800 employees, 400 employed physicians and 2,200 medical staff members, Mercy Health has been part of the Northwest Ohio community it serves for more than 163 years. Consistent with its commitment to serve each patient with dignity, Bon Secours Mercy Health provides nearly $2 million per day in community benefit. The mission of Mercy Health – Toledo is to extend the compassionate ministry of Jesus by improving the health and well-being of our communities and bring good help to those in need, especially people who are poor, dying and underserved. Visit mercy.com for additional information.

About Nationwide Children's Hospital

Named to the Top 10 Honor Roll on U.S. News & World Report’s 2024-25 list of “Best Children’s Hospitals,” Nationwide Children’s Hospital is one of America’s largest not-for-profit free-standing pediatric health care systems providing unique expertise in pediatric population health, behavioral health, genomics and health equity as the next frontiers in pediatric medicine, leading to best outcomes for the health of the whole child. Integrated clinical and research programs, as well as prioritizing quality and safety, are part of what allows Nationwide Children’s to advance its unique model of care. Nationwide Children’s has a staff of more than 16,000 that provides state-of-the-art wellness, preventive and rehabilitative care and diagnostic treatment during more than 1.8 million patient visits annually. As home to the Department of Pediatrics of The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Nationwide Children’s physicians train the next generation of pediatricians and pediatric specialists. The Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital is one of the Top 10 National Institutes of Health-funded free-standing pediatric research facilities. More information is available at NationwideChildrens.org