The University of Cincinnati, University of Cincinnati Physicians and University Hospital have come together to form UC Health.
The collaboration blends the region's largest group of specialists with the area's premier teaching hospital and trauma center. Together, they comprise more than 650 clinicians, a 650-bed hospital, 20 clinical locations across the region and UC Health Surgical Hospital.
David Stern, MD, the College of Medicine's dean and vice president for health affairs, said UC Health has grown out of shared strategic planning efforts among the hospital and medical college and its physician practice.
"UC Health is more than just a new name," said Stern. "It will allow us to continue to sustain and support a college of medicine, a faculty who teach, treat and discover and a hospital that takes on the toughest cases and succeeds."
University Hospital and University of Cincinnati Physicians – the region's largest group of medical specialists – provide outpatient care to nearly 620,000 people each year. There are nearly 80,000 yearly emergency room visits to University Hospital, and annual hospital admissions top 27,000.
Thomas Boat, MD, chief executive officer of University of Cincinnati Physicians, said the partnership would build on the service excellence programs at University Hospital and the re-engineering efforts of University of Cincinnati Physicians that have already improved access, quality and communication.
Boat said University Hospital boasts many unique services, including the region's only accredited adult burn intensive care unit, a Level 1 trauma center, the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Stroke Team, the Center for Sustainment of Trauma and Readiness Skills Air Force training program and the region's only 24/7 emergency department-based psychiatric intake area.
Collaborative programs between UC and University Hospital include the UC Neuroscience Institute and the UC Barrett Cancer Institute.
"We have plenty of reasons to believe that we can succeed," said Lee Ann Liska, executive director and senior vice president of University Hospital. "We celebrated the news earlier this year of the Clinical and Translational Science Award that will speed discoveries from bench to bedside."