From left: Neonatologists Philippe S. Friedlich, M.D., and Steven W. Chin, M.D. of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles team with Frances Su, M.D., a neonatologist at Providence Tarzana Medical Center.

Children in the San Fernando Valley now have access to an enhanced level of pediatric care, under the terms of an innovative agreement between Providence Tarzana Medical Center and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and its physicians.

Beginning today, CHLA’s renowned specialists will staff Providence Tarzana’s Pediatrics Department inpatient unit as well as its pediatric and neonatal intensive care units – known as the PICU and NICU. Staff will be available 24 hours a day, allowing families access to high-quality specialty care for their children, closer to home.

“Our new partnership is an important step forward that will bring a new level of quality care for our patients and their families,” said Dale Surowitz, Providence Tarzana’s chief executive. “This is a breakthrough in healthcare for the San Fernando Valley and adjacent communities, providing infants and children in-house specialist care round-the-clock.”

There is no children’s hospital in the vast area served by Providence Tarzana pediatrics – a region of nearly 3 million people that includes the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and Conejo valleys and Simi Valley and is roughly the population of Chicago.

“It is an honor for us to be able to partner with Providence Tarzana Medical Center to ensure children have access to a winning team so close to home,” said Richard D. Cordova, FACHE, president and chief executive officer of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. “For Valley families, this will mean they will have access to a new level of inpatient care for their children right in their own backyard.”

Under the terms of an agreement finalized in April, CHLA Medical Group will assume medical leadership of Providence Tarzana Medical Center’s three pediatric units, transitioning the Valley hospital to an innovative care model that will expand access to a wide spectrum of specialists and subspecialists.

“Our physicians are consistently ranked amongst the best in the country and earn high accolades in the national and regional surveys that evaluate the nation’s top doctors,” said Larry Harrison, chief executive officer of the CHLA Medical Group. “By bringing our services to the inpatient units at Providence Tarzana, more Valley families can benefit from the convenience of having direct access to specialized care for children without needing to come to the main campus of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.”

Providence Tarzana and CHLA sought this partnership to enhance the care Tarzana provides for children and their families, closer to their homes.

Providence Tarzana Medical Center patient, Kelli Brodie delivered son Conrad Brodie on March 30 at Providence Tarzana. The infant was born with an intestinal defect and required immediate transport to CHLA to benefit from a level of inpatient care that now will be provided at Providence Tarzana.

“As a new mother, it was a little traumatic,” said Brodie, a television news executive. “I couldn’t be with him, but I knew he was in the right hands.” Under the new collaboration, neonatal and other physician experts will be available at Tarzana, minimizing the need to separate babies from their mothers so quickly after birth to receive acute neonatal care.

Additional hospitalists, intensivists and neonatologists will be in the hospital 24/7, providing ’round-the-clock care for patients. This partnership began in 2013 and until now has focused on hospital staff training and education. With this new development, children will receive a higher level of care during all inpatient hospital stays at Providence Tarzana.

The Providence Tarzana Emergency Department and those at its sister hospitals, Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank and Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, are certified to provide pediatric care. If necessary, young emergency patients arriving at Saint Joseph and Holy Cross may be transported to Tarzana, a designated Pediatrics Medical Center, in a specially equipped family-friendly ambulance for inpatient care.

About Providence Health & Services

Providence Health & Services, Southern California, is a Catholic not-for-profit, mission-driven healthcare system. Providence Southern California operates five award-winning hospitals and a comprehensive, fully-integrated network of primary care clinics, urgent care centers, home care, TrinityCare and TrinityKids Care hospice as well as Providence High School. Providence is anchored locally by Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, Providence Tarzana Medical Center and Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Centers in Torrance and San Pedro. With more than 3,400 physicians, Providence provides coordinated primary and specialty care through an array of physician groups and individual providers including Providence Medical Institute and physician groups in the South Bay, the West Valley and Santa Clarita. Providence affiliate, Facey Medical Group, provides primary and specialized care in the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and San Gabriel valleys. For more information, visitCalifornia.providence.org.

About Children’s Hospital Los Angeles


Children’s Hospital Los Angeles has been named the best children’s hospital in California and among the top 10 in the nation for clinical excellence with its selection to the prestigious U.S. News & World Report Honor Roll. Children’s Hospital is home to The Saban Research Institute, one of the largest and most productive pediatric research facilities in the United States. The Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Medical Group includes more than 540 physicians which provide coverage for five clinical departments and 32 pediatric medical divisions. Children’s Hospital is also one of America’s premier teaching hospitals through its affiliation since 1932 with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. For more information, visit CHLA.org.