Texas-based King's Daughters Hospital and Scott and White Healthcare plan to create a regional free-standing children’s hospital on the campus of King’s Daughters Hospital. It will become the only hospital of its kind between Austin and Dallas.
Scott and White will continue to operate the financially struggling hospital as an acute-care hospital serving adults and their families until the conversion to the Children’s Hospital is complete, a process Scott and White officials say will take many months.
“The merger... will continue serving this community, with a focus on our children,” said Alfred B. Knight, MD, president and CEO of Scott and White. “The addition of Cook Children’s to this effort means there will be an unprecedented emphasis on children’s health in our area.”
The free-standing children’s hospital will continue to bear the name King’s Daughters after the transition. It will have 60 to 80 beds and four operating suites to support the delivery of pediatric services including surgery, orthopedics and a dozen more sub-specialties. There will also be a dedicated pediatric emergency department and intensive care unit.
Young patients will also have access to child life services to respond to the unique needs of children facing surgery or those requiring physical or respiratory therapy. Scott and White and Cook Children’s Health Care are exploring a partnership in which Cook Children’s would provide management of both inpatient and outpatient services at the new Children’s Hospital
“Children are among the fastest growing segments of the population in Central Texas,” said Robert W. Pryor, MD, chief medical officer and chief operating officer for Scott & White and a pediatric critical care specialist. “The new free-standing Children’s Hospital will provide enhanced coordination of care for pediatric patients in a child-friendly environment.”
Over time, Scott and White’s Children’s Hospital, now housed at Scott and White Memorial Hospital, will relocate to the King’s Daughters facility. The timetable for that transition is still to be determined.
The new Children’s Hospital also will help Scott and White, the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine and Cook Children’s train the next generation of pediatricians.
“Studies show that the chances of retaining residents as practicing physicians in our region are good when these students perform their residencies at a hospital here in the Temple area,” said Dr. Donald E. Wesson, chief academic officer at Scott and White and vice dean, Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine. “In addition, a Children’s Hospital can foster the research and discoveries leading to new treatments for childhood diseases.”
The concept for a free-standing children’s hospital was advanced after King’s Daughters Hospital entered into a nondisclosure agreement with Scott and White on February 16 to explore a potential partnership. That step was taken in response to a combination of economic factors confronting King’s Daughters Hospital. Gary Looper will remain as interim CEO and provide guidance over the next year as a conversion plan is developed.