A superior pairing to heal sick children

Parents with sick children in the Tampa Bay area and across the state know how fortunate they are to have All Children's Hospital nearby. The 83-year-old St. Petersburg institution has helped generations of children and their families navigate the medical maze of our changing health care system.

Now the hospital will not only expand its capacity to help children but also strengthen the local economy.

The pediatric specialty care hospital announced Tuesday that after years of discussions initiated by All Children's, it will become affiliated with Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Health System, one of the most prestigious names in medicine. The partnership demonstrates the local hospital's growing national reputation in the academic world.

Both organizations will benefit from the relationship. All Children's has high-quality physicians and clinical programs and with its affiliation with Johns Hopkins will add what many consider to be the best research and medical programs in the country. Some Johns Hopkins pediatric medical residents and fellows will come to Florida and access to a new market of patients here and in points south in Central and South America.

The alliance will bring researchers, too, to strengthen the Tampa Bay region's growing health care industry and reputation as a high-tech corridor.

Although the agreement has yet to be finalized, it calls for All Children's to keep its name and leadership team. But with the Johns Hopkins brand it should build its patient base and bring needed income to a region hurt by the recession.

All Children's already employs 2,800 and provides $30.9 million in unfunded community benefit by assuming the costs of charity and unreimbursed indigent care.

Johns Hopkins employs more than 32,000 people and has an estimated economic impact on Maryland of about $6.4 billion.

And because Johns Hopkins pulls in millions in grants, All Children's should be the beneficiary of some of that money. Local patients are likely to have earlier access to the new treatments expected to be developed by Johns Hopkins researchers.

The affiliation will further strengthen the growing medical reputation of a region that badly needs to diversify its economy. Thanks to the labors and foresight of people like University of South Florida President Judy Genshaft, USF Medical School Dean Stephen Klasko and Hillsborough County Commissioner Mark Sharpe, considerable progress is being made.

Tampa General Hospital is consistently considered one of the best hospitals in the country, and Moffitt Cancer Center, James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital and a network of local hospitals not only treat thousands of patients annually, but also are serving a growing life sciences industry. Moffitt, for instance, is a pioneer in genetic research and formed a partnership with drug company Merck & Co.
USF Health and the University of South Florida medical school are attracting top scientists in their field in Alzheimer's and diabetes research.

The region is incrementally expanding its medical presence and growing the economy with new businesses and high-end jobs. USF recently bought land in downtown Tampa, where it will build a high-tech training facility. It should attract physicians from around the globe to practice robotic surgery.

All these developments will generate high-paying jobs.

Now the pairing of All Children's and Johns Hopkins will strengthen the region's economic opportunities and improve the health of children - a combination to celebrate.