Newsworthy

Stormont Vail Health and Children’s Mercy Kansas City are expanding their ongoing relationship that provides pediatric specialty services for children and families in Topeka and surrounding areas by opening a new dedicated pediatric clinic in Topeka-Children’s Mercy Topeka at Stormont Vail Health.

The new clinic is scheduled to open in October. The Children’s Mercy team will be providing pediatric cardiology, pediatric endocrinology and pediatric neurology services with plans to expand to telemedicine and other in-person specialty clinics in the future.

Stormont Vail Health and Children’s Mercy Kansas City first became affiliated in 2018. Children’s Mercy immediately started providing pediatric cardiology services and later added pediatric diabetes and endocrinology and neurology services in 2020. This collaboration allowed patients at Stormont Vail Health pediatric clinics to be treated by a Children’s Mercy provider without having to travel to Kansas City for care.

“This amplified partnership and new clinic enhances Stormont Vail’s dedication to the community by providing high quality care, close to home,” said Robert Kenagy, M.D., president and CEO, Stormont Vail Health. “Partnering with a system like Children’s Mercy allows us to build upon the foundation we have made in pediatric specialty services and ensure continued access and excellence in care.”

Stormont Vail will continue to provide pediatric inpatient services through its hospital-based Neonatal Intensive Care, Pediatrics, Pediatric Intensive Care and Young Adult Center departments, as well as outpatient primary care clinics for pediatrics. The new Children’s Mercy clinic will provide outpatient subspecialty services. Developing a greater relationship between two strong organizations to enhance the services available provides the highest level of pediatric care to the children in this region.

“Our two health systems share a common commitment to put patients and families first and be where our patients live, learn and play” said Paul Kempinski, MS, FACHE, president and CEO of Children’s Mercy Kansas City. “This expanded partnership, gives our teams more resources to continue working toward delivering on that promise, allowing us to maximize our impact by improving access and achieving the best health outcomes”

A special thanks to our generous community of champions, with a lead gift from Capitol Federal®, for making this project possible. Children’s Mercy Topeka at Stormont Vail Health will be located at 909 S.W. Mulvane St., in the heart of the Stormont Vail Health Topeka campus. This clinic previously housed the Cotton O’Neil Midtown Express Care, just west of Stormont Vail Hospital. Patients who wish to remain receiving care from their Children’s Mercy doctor will transition care to the new location. Families have received a notification in their MyChart account or in the mail for more information on transitioning.

^{About Stormont Vail Health: Stormont Vail Health is a nonprofit integrated health system that has been serving the health care needs of Kansas for more than 130 years. It is composed of Stormont Vail Hospital, a 586-bed acute care hospital, and Cotton O’Neil Clinic, a multi-specialty physician group with more than 500 providers, which includes more than 250 physicians. Nearly 5,300 employees provide care and support services for patients in the hospital and 35 other locations, including the Cotton O’Neil Heart Center, Cancer Center, Diabetes & Endocrinology Center, Digestive Health Center, Pediatrics clinics and 10 regional primary care clinics. Stormont Vail Health is committed to its mission of improving the health of the community by being a national leader in providing compassionate, high-quality and efficient integrated care through collaboration that results in a healthier community.}

^{About Children’s Mercy Kansas City: Founded in 1897, Children’s Mercy is one of the nation’s top pediatric medical centers. With not-for-profit hospitals in Missouri and Kansas, and numerous specialty clinics in both states, Children’s Mercy provides the highest level of care for children from birth through the age of 21. U.S. News & World Report has repeatedly ranked Children’s Mercy as one of “America’s Best Children’s Hospitals.” For the fifth time in a row, Children’s Mercy has achieved Magnet nursing designation, awarded to only about eight percent of all hospitals nationally, for excellence in quality care. Its faculty of more than 800 pediatric subspecialists and researchers across more than 40 subspecialties are actively involved in clinical care, pediatric research, and educating the next generation of pediatric subspecialists. Thanks to generous philanthropic and volunteer support, Children’s Mercy provides medical care to every child who passes through its doors. For more information about Children’s Mercy and its research, visit childrensmercy.org. For breaking news and videos, follow us on Twitter, YouTube and Facebook.}