CINCINNATI – Shriners Hospitals for Children – Cincinnati has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Dayton Children’s Hospital to explore relocation to the Dayton pediatric hospital.
Once binding legal documents are complete, Cincinnati Shriners would lease and occupy separate space on the Dayton campus, remaining a distinct hospital within a hospital, according to a Wednesday news release from Cincinnati Shriners Hospital.
It is estimated that a final move could occur within the next 16 months. The pediatric specialty hospital, which provides care for burns as well as cleft lip and palate and plastic and reconstructive surgery, celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2018, the release stated.
Cincinnati Shriners Hospital Administrator Mark Shugarman said, “These changes are necessary to ensure that our hospital can continue to provide the finest pediatric specialty care for the next 50 years. Current healthcare trends require us to adjust our delivery model to more accurately reflect today’s environment.”
Over the past decades, there has been a decline in the severity and number of pediatric burns in the U.S., especially those requiring a lengthy hospital stay. This is due in large part to education and prevention efforts, many of which have been spearheaded by the Shriners Hospital system. This move will enable Cincinnati Shriners Hospital to deliver its specialty services more efficiently, purchasing certain services from the Dayton hospital.
“Trends in healthcare have shifted toward more outpatient care,” said Shugarman. “Today, approximately 85 percent of pediatric medical procedures are performed in an outpatient setting, including burn care. The new location will allow Shriners Hospitals for Children to maintain its southwest Ohio presence with a surgical facility designed to meet and exceed today’s medical standards for its exceptional care.”
Cincinnati Shriners Hospital first opened in 1968 as the Shriners Burns Institute, a part of Cincinnati General Hospital, now called University of Cincinnati Medical Center. It is one of four Shriners Hospitals specializing in pediatric burn treatment and has become the gold standard for childhood burn care as well as research on breakthroughs like engineered skin to replace grafting.
In 1992, the hospital moved into its current location at 3229 Burnet Avenue, expanding to include services including cleft lip and palate, specialty wound treatment and plastic and reconstructive surgery. The hospital has always treated patients regardless of a family’s ability to pay, drawing from more than 26 states across the U.S. as well as countries around the world.
A timeline for the move has not yet been fully determined, but it is hoped that patients would be seen at the new location by summer of 2020. Until that time, both new and existing patients will continue to be cared for at the Burnet Avenue location.
