Seattle Children's Hospital will provide "expertise on best practices, technical guidance, and training" in a new partnership with two Montana hospitals, according to The Bozeman Daily Chronicle.
Seattle Children's will guide both Bozeman (Mont.) Health and Helena, Mont.-based St. Peter's Health as they expand a neonatal care and maternal fetal medicine program in Bozeman, according to a Jan. 22 news release cited by The Bozeman Daily Chronicle.
Bozeman Health and St. Peter's Health partnered last September so Helena patients could access the expanding neonatal services and new women and children's hospital opening in fall 2020 at Bozeman Health.
Bozeman Health already consults Seattle Children's about challenging medical cases and to coordinate care for transferring patients, John Hill, CEO of Bozeman Health, told The Bozeman Daily Chronicle.
A Seattle Children's neonatal nurse practitioner will guide Bozeman Health's expansion, which, when finished, will elevate the NICU to a level 2 unit. The hospital hopes to transition to a level 3 NICU within a year of expanding, The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reports.
Seattle Children's has three affiliate hospitals in Montana, six in Alaska and 13 in Washington, according to the hospital's website. The hospital made headlines over the last several months when mold was found in its operating rooms and cited as the cause of death for six patients.