Cincinnati Children’s Heart Institute and UK HealthCare finalized a joint agreement for pediatric care and services in 2016. The collaboration combines the strengths of the region’s leading provider of advanced subspecialty care, in UK HealthCare, with the Heart Institute - one of the country’s leaders in cardiovascular surgery and heart care for children.

Already massive strides have been made toward the mutual goal of providing top-quality heart care to the children of Kentucky, including the hiring of a joint appointed surgeon for the program.

“The program is fully integrated and that is why it is so unique,” says Andrew Redington, MD, Executive Co-Director of the Heart Institute. “Essentially every patient in the system will receive the same high-level, quality care. We’re not just providing itinerant coverage or just providing surgeries. This is a truly integrated collaboration at every level — surgical planning and combined case conferences, a jointly appointed electrophysiologist, and collaborative adult congenital care.”

The shared-care model of the joint agreement will allow patients to receive the right care at the right place at the right time. Looking forward, the first surgery is expected to occur at UK HealthCare in Lexington in early 2017. Already many high-acuity Kentucky patients are receiving their surgical, catheterization and electrophysiology care at the Heart Institute while receiving follow-up care with their physician closer to home, be that Kentucky or Cincinnati. “We believe this is the model for providing and maintaining high-quality services in relatively small units,” Redington said.