Baptist Health South Florida, based in Coral Gables, and nonprofit Nicklaus Children's Hospital, part of Miami Children's Health System, are partnering to improve healthcare through coordination and cooperation, the organizations announced Thursday.
The two organizations will initially work together on proton therapy for children, telemedicine, international services, IT and medical education.
For instance, pediatric oncologists at Nicklaus Children's will be able to offer proton beam therapy to their patients at Miami Cancer Institute at Baptist Health when the proton treatment center opens in early 2017. Baptist Health and Nicklaus Children's will also work together to provide telemedicine services and will collaborate on international services, including a second opinion program and transfer protocols.
As far as IT, Baptist Health and Nicklaus Children's said they will collaborate to analyze and consider the potential to share resources towards the future development, implementation, support and training of their IT platforms.
And with medical education, the organizations will partner to coordinate programs for graduate, undergraduate and continuing medical education in cooperation with the Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, based in Miami.
Brian E. Keeley, president and CEO of Baptist Health South Florida expressed excitement about the collaboration, calling it "a natural fit for both of our organizations and will have a positive impact on the way our patients receive care."