Akron Children’s teams with Cincinnati Children’s to boost world-class specialty care in eastern Ohio 

Cincinnati Children’s ranks No. 1 in the nation in U.S. News & World Report’s 2023-24 listing of Best Children’s Hospitals.

04-15-2024 (Akron, Mahoning Valley, Ohio)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Akron Children’s teams with Cincinnati Children’s to boost world-class specialty care in eastern Ohio 

Enhanced services will include Ear, Nose & Throat,care for liver patients, plus bone marrow transplants

AKRON (CINCINNATI), Ohio (April 16, 2024) - Akron Children’s is teaming with Cincinnati Children’s, the nation’s No. 1 ranked pediatric health system, to provide complex care with world-class experts in several medical specialties, including pediatric otolaryngology (ear, nose and throat), hepatology (liver disease), and bone marrow transplant.

The two health systems have collaborated for over a decade to care for kidney transplant patients, and now Akron Children’s will provide enhanced care for local patients in other specialties where Cincinnati Children’s excels.

“We share a commitment to making it easier for families in eastern Ohio to receive world-class pediatric care close to their homes,” said Steve Davis, MD, MMM, president and CEO of Cincinnati Children’s. “Our newly expanded collaboration builds upon a well-established foundation.”

Over time, Cincinnati Children’s and Akron Children’s will explore expanding the clinical collaboration based upon the evolving needs of the region and seek opportunities to work together in other ways, including research and education.

“We are proud to build upon our successful collaboration with Cincinnati Children’s to ensure Akron Children’s patients can receive complex care, close to home, only traveling to Cincinnati in rare instances,” said Chris Gessner, Akron Children’s president and CEO. “We know how important the relationship is between a patient and their care team, and now our patients in ENT, hepatology and bone marrow transplant will have access to Cincinnati Children’s specialists at Akron Children’s locations.”

Members of the Akron Children’s and Cincinnati Children’s teams will share time on both campuses as the organizations coordinate the delivery of specialty care for patients. In addition, specialty services will be made accessible via telemedicine. Below are additional details for each specialty.

Pediatric ENT: Cincinnati Children’s has one of the top pediatric ENT programs in the country. Through this programmatic alignment, the organizations will recruit and deploy more fellowship-trained pediatric ENT specialists in the Akron region to improve access, expand the base of patients for research and clinical trials, and share expertise to improve clinical guidelines.

Kidney transplant: Cincinnati Children’s has performed more than 800 kidney transplants and is consistently among the leading children's hospitals for number of kidney transplants performed each year. By closely aligning clinical protocols for the care of patients before and after kidney transplant surgery, Akron Children’s patients receive most of their care close to home.

Hepatology: Using the successful kidney transplant relationship as the model, the two health systems will align their clinical protocols for children in need of a liver transplant, enabling patients to receive most of their care close to home.

Bone marrow transplant: Akron Children’s Showers Family Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders has performed bone marrow transplants (BMT) since 2003. This new collaboration is designed to enable Akron Children’s to grow BMT volumes, improve care and achieve FACT (Foundation for Accreditation of Cellular Therapy) accreditation.
 

The two pediatric health systems are among the largest and most highly regarded in Ohio. Each has strong roots in their local communities, drawing patients from across the state and beyond.   ### 

About Cincinnati Children’s   

Cincinnati Children’s ranks No. 1 in the nation in U.S. News & World Report’s 2023-24 listing of Best Children’s Hospitals. In addition, Cincinnati Children’s has been recognized as one of America’s Most Innovative Companies by Fortune. Established in 1883, Cincinnati Children’s is a nonprofit, independent pediatric health system that is internationally recognized for improving child health and transforming delivery of care through research, education, and innovation. About one-third of Cincinnati Children’s 19,000 employees are engaged in research. Additional information may be found at CincinnatiChildrens.org   

About Akron Children's

Akron Children’s is an independent, nonprofit pediatric health care system that has been caring for children since 1890. With two hospital campuses, seven regional health centers and more than 50 primary and specialty care locations throughout Ohio, we are the only health care system in our region fully dedicated to pediatric care. With our vast network of Akron Children’s Pediatrics offices, we offer convenient access to expert pediatric primary care for patients from infancy through young adulthood. From our School-Based Health Care to our Quick Care Online virtual visits and Akron Children’s Anywhere app, we make it easy for today’s busy families to find the high-quality care they need. In 2023, our health care system provided nearly 1.4 million patient encounters and employed more than 7,000 employees. Learn more at akronchildrens.org.

Media contacts: 

Barrett J. Brunsman 

Cincinnati Children’s   

Barrett.Brunsman@CCHMC.org       

Holly Pupino

Akron Children's Hospital

hpupino@akronchildrens.org

Akron Children’s includes two hospital campuses, seven regional health centers and more than 50 primary and specialty care locations throughout Ohio.