Dear colleagues,

I am pleased to announce exciting news that benefits mothers and infants across our region. CHOC Children’s and UCI Health have formed a new relationship for maternal fetal medicine and neonatal intensive care services that will offer greater access to high quality, advanced care for women with complex pregnancies and critically ill infants.

CHOC Children’s and UCI Health will take to a highly collaborative approach to care management for mothers and newborns. Pregnant mothers will have immediate access to our combined multi-disciplinary team for high-risk deliveries and a coordinated approach for diagnosis and intervention in early stages of pregnancy. Infants requiring critical care will be treated at either CHOC or UCI, depending on their medical circumstances.

CHOC and UCI physicians have agreed to align in a shared mission to provide high-quality, integrated care, including maternal fetal medicine specialists, neonatologists and pediatric cardiologists.

This relationship builds on the current academic affiliation between UCI Health and CHOC to advance medicine and innovation through research and education. We are confident this new collaboration will accelerate and strengthen a stronger research base to improve maternal fetal medicine and care for infants, facilitating access to cutting-edge treatments and improving outcomes for mothers and newborns.

CHOC and UCI Health will continue to be responsible for daily operational management of their respective facilities; CHOC will manage the CHOC-licensed neonatal intensive care units at CHOC in Orange, Mission and St. Joseph Hospital while UCI Health will manage the maternal-fetal medicine service and neonatal intensive care beds at UCI Medical Center. The collaboration will launch in July 2018 and full physician alignment is expected by September 2018.

I would like to thank the staff and faculty who have worked to make this collaboration a reality. Your efforts will directly improve the health and well-being of families in our community.