19 DECEMBER 2023Both organizations in the partnership must be committed to investing what is required for the partnership to succeed. Ancillary personnel, equipment, supplies, and appropriately trained staff are just some of the essential investments needed at the community hospital. The appropriate number and type of providers, MDs and APPs, for the specific clinical care model must be supported to ensure high-quality, safe pediatric care. Subspecialists at the tertiary/quaternary hospital must be willing to provide recommendations remotely 24/7/365. Although most of the partnerships still exist today, a few of them have not lasted. One of the main reasons I believe these partnerships did not continue was a lack of a shared mission between organizations. For example, providing general pediatric inpatient care is not profitable and so these hospital beds are often used for other more profitable service lines in for-profit institutions. These partnership clinicians face many challenges in providing neonatal and pediatric care in community hospitals. Ancillary services such as laboratory, pharmacy, and radiology are often adult-oriented and therefore, the equipment or processes are not pediatric-specific. Subspecialty support may not be readily available via telephone or telehealth, making the need to transfer patients to a higher level of care more likely. As one of the physician leaders of these partnership clinicians, it is my responsibility to grow and maintain engagement with these clinicians despite the geographic challenges. Regularly scheduled video conferences with the site leaders to discuss local challenges and share ideas for solutions are critical to maintaining engagement. Working as a clinician at the partnership sites provides firsthand experience to the leaders and creates professional camaraderie between the leaders and the partnership clinicians. We know how important it is for clinicians working anywhere to feel valued for the work they do. It is also important for these clinicians to feel like they are a part of the local community they serve. We encourage our clinicians to live in these communities rather than commute so that they feel a bond with the community they serve. We encourage them to volunteer their time so that they can learn more about the needs of the community they serve.Building successful community hospital partnerships takes lots of time, hard work, financial investment, and personal commitment. If done right, community partnerships create a win-win for both institutions. Keeping sick infants and children in their local community hospital by providing high-quality pediatric care is good for medicine and society as a whole. BUILDING SUCCESSFUL COMMUNITY HOSPITAL PARTNERSHIPS TAKES LOTS OF TIME, HARD WORK, FINANCIAL INVESTMENT, AND PERSONAL COMMITMENT
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