St. Joseph Health and UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals Sign Joint Venture Agreement

St. Joseph Health, Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital and UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals have announced a joint venture to enhance and expand neonatal and pediatric services. Along with Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital’s recent expansion of obstetric services, residents of Sonoma County and the greater North Bay region can expect greater availability of obstetric and pediatric services, within the hospital and in outpatient settings.

UCSF Health will continue to provide expert consultative services to women with high risk pregnancies at the UCSF Prenatal Diagnostic Center in Santa Rosa, serving as an option for women in the North Bay seeking specialized women’s health services.

“St. Joseph Health and UCSF have enjoyed a longstanding relationship in meeting the health care needs of residents of Sonoma County,” said Stephen Wilson, MD, PhD, chief medical officer, UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital San Francisco. “We respect the mission and vision of St. Joseph Health and we are excited to be entering into this deeper partnership to better the health of families in Sonoma County. We also share the vision of a health care delivery system focused on a population health model of care, with a greater focus on community integrated care and the overall health of the entire community.”

For many years UCSF has provided medical education and specialty physician services to the Sonoma County community, many of these programs in collaboration with St. Joseph Health. Since 2000, Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital has had an agreement with UCSF to operate its UCSF Intensive Care Nursery, which offers the highest level of neonatal care in the North Bay area and is designated by California Children’s Services (CCS) as a Level III Community Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for its ability to provide outstanding care to fragile, critically ill newborns.

In announcing the new center, Todd Salnas, president, St. Joseph Health, Sonoma County, said, “We are extremely proud of our track record of providing residents of the North Bay region comprehensive obstetric and pediatric care close to home, and now, with the combined expertise of UCSF and St. Joseph Health, we will be able to ensure that residents have access to even more high-quality care and the most advanced treatments available at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital and the UCSF Prenatal Diagnostic Center in Santa Rosa.”

Under this new affiliation, UCSF outpatient pediatric specialty practices will partner with Annadel Medical Group pediatricians to expand the availability of UCSF subspecialty care available at a clinic located in one of Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital’s facilities. Services available include hematology (blood diseases), endocrinology and diabetes, gastroenterology, cardiology, neurology, organ transplantation support, nephrology (kidney care) and more. In addition, St. Joseph Health will expand obstetrical care at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.

The affiliation also outlines several ways in which St. Joseph Health, Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital and UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals will collaborate including:

• Developing telehealth consult services to further enhance access to pediatric physician specialists;
• Providing opportunities for UCSF medical students and residents to participate in clinical rotations at St. Joseph Health facilities including Santa Rosa Memorial and Petaluma Valley hospitals;
• Creating educational programs for physicians, nurses and support staff (e.g., CMEs); and
• Continuing to grow the obstetrical, neonatal and pediatric service lines through program development.

“The most profound impact of this affiliation on the community will be greater access to specialty coverage,” added Salnas. “Utilizing telemedicine technology, this will benefit not only residents in Sonoma County but also residents in Mendocino, Humboldt, Del Norte and Napa counties by integrating UCSF’s many strengths, resources and expertise in perinatal and pediatric care with the clinical expertise already available at our St. Joseph Health facilities.”

About St. Joseph Health, Sonoma County

St. Joseph Health, Sonoma County is a not-for-profit provider of integrated health care, sponsored by the St. Joseph Health Ministry. Its mission is to extend the healing ministry of Jesus in the tradition of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange by improving health and quality of life in the communities it serves. Entities include the 338-bed Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital (the region’s Level II Trauma Center), the 80-bed Petaluma Valley Hospital, Memorial Hospice, Hospice of Petaluma, North County Hospice, St. Joseph Urgent Care centers, and St. Joseph Home Care Network. The organization’s more than 2,000 local employees offer residents of California’s North Coast a spectrum of healthcare services. These include Family Birthing, Neonatal Intensive Care supported by an affiliation with UCSF, pediatrics, preventive care and health promotion, outpatient behavioral health care, palliative care, rehabilitation, and community benefit programs. Visit stjoesonoma.org to learn more.

About UCSF

UC San Francisco (UCSF) is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care. It includes top-ranked graduate schools of dentistry, medicine, nursing and pharmacy, a graduate division with nationally renowned programs in basic, biomedical, translational and population sciences, as well as a preeminent biomedical research enterprise and UCSF Health, which includes three top-ranked hospitals, UCSF Medical Center, UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital San Francisco, and UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland, as well as other partner and affiliated hospitals and healthcare providers throughout the Bay Area. Please visit www.ucsf.edu/news.