UTSW and Children’s On a Mission to Enhance Pediatric Care in North Texas

UTSW and Children’s On a Mission to Enhance Pediatric Care in North Texas
Dr. Daniel Podolsky (front, left), president of UT Southwestern, and Christopher Durovich (front, right), president and CEO of Children’s Health at the signing ceremony. Back row (from left to right): Dr. John Warner, Dr. Julio Perez-Fontan, Tammy Webb, David Berry, Dr. Christopher Madden, Jeremiah Radandt, Dr. W. P. Andrew Lee, and Pete Perialas Jr.

After collaborating for nearly 60 years, UT Southwestern and Children’s Health have entered into a more formal partnership that promises to enhance pediatric care in North Texas.

Dr. Daniel Podolsky, president of UT Southwestern, and Christopher Durovich, president and CEO of Children’s Health, signed an agreement last fall that creates a joint pediatric enterprise between their two entities. A special board consisting of leaders from UT Southwestern and Children’s Health will oversee the venture.

The new partnership, while not a merger, lets the two entities make joint decisions about staffing, programs, and the expansion of facilities in the DFW area. UT Southwestern physicians already provide much of the care in the Children’s Health system, generating 80% to 90% of revenues at Children’s Medical Center.

Discussions about the partnership began in 2017, as UT Southwestern contemplated the future of its pediatric mission. The arrangement is similar to the one made between UT Southwestern and Texas Health Resources in 2015, which resulted in Southwestern Health Resources, one of the most prominent health care networks in the region.

The partnership also has the potential to boost pediatric research programs overseen by Dr. Dai Chung, vice chair of the Department of Surgery and surgeon-in-chief at Children’s Health, who is an advocate of the arrangement. This, in turn, could attract accomplished pediatric researchers and in-demand pediatric specialists to UT Southwestern.