Studer Family Children’s Hospital at Ascension Sacred Heart and Nemours Children’s Health are partnering to provide advanced pediatric health care across Northwest Florida.
The strategic arrangement will significantly increase the number of subspeciality physicians practicing on Studer Family Children’s Hospital’s main campus.
Sacred Heart’s children’s hospital was formed in 1969, and Nemours has been providing specialty pediatric health care services in Pensacola for 29 years.
“By collaborating with Nemours Children’s Health, we are working toward a healthier future for Pensacola families,” says Dr. Jason Foland, president of Studer Family Children’s Hospital. “Through this coordination of clinical expertise, our organizations are stepping up to meet the needs of our most vulnerable patients.”
“Mental and behavioral health continues to be a focus, and at earlier ages. As we have seen depression, anxiety and other mental health disorders rise, there are certainly opportunities to enhance the availability of care and service offerings. Our Nemours Children’s Health behavioral health program treats a number of conditions, and in Northwest Florida specifically, we are actively working to increase access to mental and behavioral health services, support and resources.” — Aaron Carpenter, president, North Florida Region, Nemours Children’s Health
The Studer Family facility is the only certified children’s hospital in Northwest Florida, a region with many rural communities that have limited pediatric health services.
“This collaboration ushers in a new era for children and families across Northwest Florida,” says Dr. Matthew M. Davis, vice president, enterprise physician-in-chief and chief scientific officer of Nemours Children’s Health. “By aligning the expertise, strength and resources of these two pediatric health entities, we will collectively be better positioned to streamline the care journey for children.”
Leading the new pediatric subspecialty program are Dr. Dawn Walton, chief medical officer for Studer Family Children’s Hospital, and Aaron Carpenter, president, North Florida Region, Nemours Children’s Health.
“The statistic right now in the United States is about one in five kids — 20% — have obesity. Childhood obesity is something that everybody in pediatrics has the focus on, ‘How can we prevent the other diseases that develop out of this chronic disease?’” — Dr. Dawn Walton, chief medical officer for Studer Family Children’s Hospital