Peter Schorsch
Tampa General Hospital announced a partnership this week with Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital to expand pediatric surgery services across Tampa Bay.
The partnership will see pediatric general surgeons from St. Petersburg-based Johns Hopkins All Children’s provide services at Tampa General, including pediatric general surgery consultations and procedures, pediatric trauma surgery, and prenatal counseling and intervention.
“We are excited to partner with a world-class pediatric care partner like Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital,” said John Couris, TGH president and CEO. “By partnering, we are bringing pediatric general surgery experts from Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital together with the TGH Children’s Medical Center team and the pediatric specialists from USF Health and our private practice physicians to create a collaborative environment in which innovative ideas and best practices are shared, our students learn, and our youngest, most vulnerable community members benefit.”
In addition to the partnership in pediatric general surgery, Johns Hopkins All Children’s pediatric general surgeons will open a comprehensive Pediatric General Surgery Clinic inside the USF Health South Tampa Campus at TGH where patients and families can be seen for pre- and post-surgical care and other necessary follow-ups.
“We are honored to serve Tampa Bay area families who have pediatric general surgery needs,” said Thomas Kmetz, president of Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital. “This collaboration with TGH not only expands our specialized pediatric general surgery services but improves access for children throughout Hillsborough County and beyond using the expertise of Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital’s pediatric general surgeons.”
The new partnership provides additional learning opportunities for medical students and graduate medical education trainees at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine to learn from the pediatric general surgeons from Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital while consulting with and treating patients at TGH.
“The new relationship ties us closer together and will help demonstrate the power of academic medicine to the Tampa Bay community,” said Dr. Mark Moseley, Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs at USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. “We are all committed to delivering world class care through the academic medical center at TGH, but also to train the next generation of healthcare professionals and make discoveries through research that translate to the bedside. Our shared commitment to academics makes us unique.”
Tampa General Hospital and Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital both earned recognition in U.S. News & World Report’s best hospital rankings. TGH was named the top hospital in the Tampa-St. Petersburg Metro Area, and Johns Hopkins All Children’s had the most children’s specialties ranked in Florida for the 2020-2021 list.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Tampa General has been a leader in health care for the state. In response to COVID-19, TGH has partnered with many organizations and businesses in the Tampa area, including the Florida Aquarium, to assist them in instituting healthcare safeguards to protect employees and visitors.
Additionally, TGH collaborated with multiple other local healthcare systems to share data, develop dashboards and implement best practices to treat patients diagnosed with coronavirus. Couris sat on the Governor’s Re-Open Florida Task Force, and TGH has hosted Gov. Ron DeSantis and Vice President Mike Pence in discussions on Florida’s coronavirus response efforts.
