Nicklaus Children’s and Broward Health team up for care. What it means for patients

Children will soon be able to be treated by cardiology, neurology and orthopedic specialists at Nicklaus Children’s Health System through Broward Health to strengthen care for children in central and north Broward.

Nicklaus Children’s Health System is set to become the provider of pediatric services to Salah Foundation Children’s Hospital of Broward Health next year as part of a recently approved affiliation agreement. Children’s Hospital is part of Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale and also offers services through Broward Health Coral Springs.

“This is about access to high-quality pediatric health care close to home,” said Matthew Love, president and CEO of Nicklaus Childrens Health System.

Nicklaus Children’s provides medical care for nearly half a million pediatric patients a year, many of whose families rely on Medicaid, the federal state health insurance program for low-income families. One of the runs best pediatric hospitals in florida with more than a dozen ambulatory and urgent care centers in the region.

Broward Health is one of the 10 largest public health systems in the country, with five hospitals and more than 50 health centers and doctor’s offices in the county.

The CEOs of Broward Health and Nicklaus Children’s, in a joint interview with the Miami Herald, explained that one of the key missions of the initiative is to improve access to primary and specialty care for children in Broward, the second most populous county in Florida.

“We are changing the healthcare landscape for the benefit of our patients and these children throughout the community,” said Shane Strum, president and CEO of Broward Health and Interim CEO of Memorial Healthcare Systemthe other public safety net hospital system in the county.

What the Broward Health-Nicklaus Children’s Collaboration Means for Patients

More than 1.9 million people live in Broward County, and nearly 21 percent of the population are children under 18, census data show.

Although there are several hospitals in the county, only two provide specialized care for children. One is the children’s hospital at Broward Health, the network of public hospitals covering central and north Broward. The other is Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in Hollywood, part of Memorial Regional Healthcare System, the public hospital network in south Broward.

Broward Health says about 16 percent of pediatric patients have to leave the county to seek specialty care. Miami-Dade County is home to Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, Baptist Children’s Hospital and Holtz Children’s Hospital, which is one of the largest children’s hospitals in the southeastern United States and is part of Miami-Dade’s public hospital system, Jackson Health System.

“No child should have to leave Broward County or Miami-Dade County” or Florida for care, Love said.

By the end of 2025, Nicklaus specialists will care for children at Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, which provides medical services to adults and children and is considered to have one of the most crowded emergencies in the country. Nicklaus Physicians will also relocate to Broward Health Coral Springs, which caters to a growing population of children and young families in the surrounding neighborhoods.

The affiliation will also make it easier for doctors to share information between the two hospital systems, according to hospital executives. A Broward child might undergo surgery at nearby Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in South Miami, for example, and see their Nicklaus doctor for follow-up appointments at one of the Broward Health locations. Similarly, it will be easier for doctors in both hospital systems to review and manage a patient’s treatment.

READ MORE: “The hospital within a hospital”. Nicklaus Children’s opens new surgery center with special technology

Broward Health served more than 70,000 children and adolescents during fiscal year 2024, which ended in June. The affiliation is also expected to create more jobs, research and medical study opportunities for graduates, which could help attract more doctors, nurses and other medical staff at a time when the country is facing a shortage of health workers and fewer doctors study pediatrics.

Nicklaus Children’s, which operates the only independent pediatric hospital in South Florida, also partners with Baptist Health South Florida. Nicklaus Specialists provides pediatric emergency care at Baptist Hospital and Homestead Hospital in Miami-Dade County.

In collaboration with Nicklaus-Broward Health, the boards of both hospital systems approved the affiliation agreement in November, with the transition expected to begin in early 2025 and be completed by the end of the year.

“We’ve changed the direction of pediatric healthcare in South Florida in a way that hasn’t been done in the past,” said Nicklaus CEO Love.