Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) and the CHLA Health Network announced today the launch of the CHLA Health Network, a group of more than 100 general pediatricians in 26 practices throughout Los Angeles who have affiliated with CHLA to improve care for children across Southern California.

The CHLA Health Network is the only physician-led network of its kind in Los Angeles just for kids. It brings together community-based pediatricians committed to developing a continuum of care that spans from the pediatrician’s office to CHLA’s partner hospitals where its physicians oversee pediatric and neonatal care as well as to its main hospital in the heart of Los Angeles, the top-ranked pediatric facility in California.

The network is a growing and exclusive group of affiliated pediatricians with the highest reputations in the Los Angeles medical community with members in locations stretching across all corners of Los Angeles County and parts of Ventura County —north to Valencia, south to Long Beach, west to Ventura and east to San Dimas. At the core of the network is a shared commitment to family-centered care, which increasingly includes finding innovative ways to ensure that health care services for children are provided closer to a child’s home. Network pediatricians are committed to improving the patient experience (including quality and satisfaction levels) and expanding access to CHLA’s world class pediatric specialty programs and services, research and technology.

The CHLA Health Network’s development was a strategic directive of hospital President and CEO, Paul S. Viviano. Since being informally announced in the physician community nine months ago, more than 100 physicians have requested to affiliate, and the list continues to grow. “We are proud that these premier Los Angeles pediatricians share our common desire to create hope and build healthier futures for our children,” says Viviano. “As CHLA continues to deliver on its commitment to provide the very best care to every child, partnering with community pediatricians will result in primary care that is integrated with experts at one of the finest pediatric academic medical centers in the country. This will give more children access to the full benefit of the 350 specialty programs and services that CHLA has designed for children and the comprehensive and devoted bench of pediatric researchers developing the treatments and cures of the future.”

“The hospital and the medical group came together to develop this network with community pediatricians to produce quality health outcomes and services for healthy children who need primary care and to ensure access to specialty care from an institution dedicated to treating and curing young patients suffering from a wide range of acute and chronic illnesses,” says Larry Harrison, the CHLA Medical Group’s chief executive officer. “Together, we will become the indispensable, countywide delivery system for child health care with the common mission of improving outcomes for all children.”

Bhavana Arora, MD, medical director of the CHLA Health Network, says that by building a collaborative infrastructure through the CHLA Health Network, a foundation for care has been developed that is integrated in the community that better meets the needs and developmental milestones of children as they grow. “Our community pediatricians are creating an indelible footprint in Los Angeles,” she says. “With the affiliated providers treating more than 150,000 patients in Los Angeles County each year, the true beneficiaries of this network will be the children of Los Angeles.”

The network is dedicated to providing superior health care informed by evidence-based best practices and innovation. Parents who choose a pediatrician affiliated with the CHLA Health Network have the benefit of knowing that their child’s care benefits from the latest protocols developed by the specialists at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, as well as research conducted at The Saban Research Institute, the hospital’s free-standing dedicated pediatric research facility.

Through CHLA Health Network affiliate physicians, parents will have direct access to CHLA’s specialized care, should their child need it, at the hospital’s main campus at Sunset and Vermont in Los Angeles and its neonatal and pediatric care at CHLA’s partner hospitals – Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica and Providence Tarzana Medical Center. Children would also have access to pediatric specialists at CHLA’s five outpatient care centers throughout greater Los Angeles.

The CHLA Health Network’s development is the result of requests from community pediatricians for enhanced access to expertise at CHLA. “By partnering with the CHLA Health Network, patients at our affiliate practices will have ready access to the specialty care, protocols, treatment modalities and leading-edge research offered by one of the top-ranked children’s hospitals in the nation,” says Neville Anderson, MD, of Larchmont Pediatrics. Anderson completed her internship and residency at CHLA and is a board certified pediatrician who has been recognized as a Super Doctor by Los Angeles Magazine. “This access to care will be second to none and a benefit to families throughout the region, especially as affiliates integrate their electronic medical records systems with CHLA.”

The network is jointly led by a managing board that includes representatives consisting of pediatricians from the five founding community pediatric practices, the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Medical Group (CHLAMG) and CHLA. At this time, the network is reviewing applications from practices interested in affiliating with the Network. Pediatricians who wish to affiliate with the network are encouraged to apply. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis and more information is available at CHLA.org/CHLANetwork.