OLATHE, KAN. (Jan. 28, 2020) – Olathe Health is collaborating with Children’s Mercy Kansas City to provide the highest level of neonatal services for newborns in the neonatal intensive care unit at Olathe Medical Center (OMC).
Under the new agreement, beginning May 1, Children’s Mercy Neonatal Nurse Practitioners (NNPs) will provide on-site support 24 hours a day, seven days a week at OMC. A Children’s Mercy neonatologist will make daily rounds and be on-call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. With Children’s Mercy neonatology experts coming to OMC to provide care, it means more moms and babies can stay together in their community.
It’s a collaboration that has been in the works since the new CEOs for each health system started, which happened to be on the same day. Stan Holm, CHFP, FACHE, Olathe Health President/CEO and Paul Kempinski, MS, FACHE, President and CEO of Children’s Mercy, both stepped into their roles on Nov. 1, 2018. They recognized this collaboration between Olathe Health and Children’s Mercy would benefit young families in the area by advancing strategies that allow moms and babies to stay together close to home.
“In 2017, Olathe Medical Center raised its level of care for moms and babies with the addition of a Level II NICU led by highly-skilled and experienced neonatologists, nurse practitioners and nursing staff,” Holm said. “We are proud that our commitment to caring for new families has earned us the honor of being chosen by moms as a Favorite Place to Have a Baby in the Kansas City region for three years in a row. Now, we are taking that level of care one step further by teaming up with the only organization with a Level IV NICU in the region.”
“We are excited and proud to work with Olathe Health,” Kempinksi said. “Through this arrangement, more babies at Olathe Medical Center will have immediate access to the expertise of our nationally recognized neonatologists without having to leave Olathe. Keeping families together and close to home can help speed babies’ recovery, while reducing stress on families.”
Jessica Brunkhorst, MD, will serve as the medical director for Olathe Medical Center’s NICU. Dr. Brunkhorst, an Olathe resident, is a Children’s Mercy neonatologist and assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, School of Medicine.