Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Allentown, Pa.-based Lehigh Valley Health Network have inked an affiliation agreement to expand on their long-standing relationship.
The new affiliation is a way to go beyond the referral process, since the organizations share a number of patients, according to a Sept. 21 news release shared with Becker's. The pair will create a more formalized process to direct patients to the appropriate level of care at CHOP or Lehigh Valley's Reilly Children's Hospital.
They also aim to advance educational and research capabilities by identifying opportunities for shared programs and services.
"The CHOP-LVHN affiliation will strengthen the channels of communication, cooperation and learning between two world-class children's hospitals to ultimately improve the overall care and experience for patients and their families," Steve Docimo, MD, executive vice president of business development and strategy at CHOP, said in the release.