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Children's National Announces Collaborative Service in Pediatric Radiation Oncology

Washington, DC – Children’s National Medical Center announced plans to create a collaborative new service with Sibley Memorial Hospital for pediatric radiation oncology. A Certificate of Need application will be filed in September, and if approved, the program could start as early as 2014.

“This partnership is another example of our strategic focus: to consistently partner with organizations in the region to bring high quality accessible care to children and families. We are actively looking to bring our expertise to more places and organizations in the market,” says Elizabeth Flury, EVP and Chief Strategy Officer at Children’s National Medical Center. “We believe that when we base our strategic decisions around what’s best for the child, everyone wins. This partnership is a perfect example of that thinking.”  

“This new service will give families important treatment options, closer to home. For kids fighting cancer in the Capital area, this is a win,” says Kurt Newman, MD, President and CEO of Children's National. "We are pleased that we are able to collaborate with Johns Hopkins and Sibley Memorial Hospital to create an integrated radiation oncology service – including research – designed with kids in mind.”  

If approved, the collaboration with Children’s National, Johns Hopkins Medicine, and Sibley Memorial will make care accessible to oncology patients requiring radiation therapy using linear accelerator (photon) therapy. 

Through the collaborative service, patients across the region would also have access to Children’s pediatric oncology research expertise, including joint research initiatives with the National Institutes of Health (NIH). "There are cases in which radiation is the best way to enhance treatment for a young patient," said Jeffrey Dome, MD, Oncology Division Chief, Children's National. "This collaboration is focused in finding the best strategies based in current research to integrate radiation therapy into a comprehensive care regime."

This proposed service follows a pattern of similar collaborative and innovative partnerships with area hospitals and health systems. Pediatric Specialists for Virginia, a joint venture with Inova Health System, set to open in October, will make specialty outpatient pediatric services more accessible to northern Virginia families. Children's National also collaborates in managing and staffing inpatient pediatric and neonatal services at other regional hospitals throughout Virginia and Maryland. 


Additionally, Children's National recently announced a research and treatment collaborative with NIH’s National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to advance diagnostics and interventional catheterization for pediatric cardiology patients. Children's National partners with the Medstar National Rehabilitation Hospital by managing and staffing its pediatric services, and also collaborates with MedStar Georgetown University Hospital for medical education and complex clinical programs. Children's National also frequently partners with Medstar Washington Hospital Center on research and for high acuity neonatal cases. 

“These programs demonstrate what executives at Children’s see as industry-leading thinking, bringing former competitors into innovative relationships to provide better and more accessible care,” says Newman. "When we all put kids at the center of what we do, the right partnerships and collaborations naturally evolve". 

Contact:  Paula Darte or Emily Hartman, Children's National Public Relations:  202-476-4500.

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