Last November, CoxHealth and Mercy announced a partnership to expand pediatric services in the region. Today, that partnership is over. Mercy Springfield announced plans Tuesday to bring Children’s Mercy Kansas City to town – alone.
Mercy Springfield Communities President David Argueta said around 27% of pediatric patients leave the region for care. He said they needed to find a solution that would allow kids to get care at home as often as possible.
But that solution won’t include CoxHealth.
"We just could not find a sustainable path that we agreed on to move forward," he said. "That is trying to respect CoxHealth, the process."
Argueta said that after a request for proposal period, three hospitals were in the running, including Children’s Mercy Kansas City. Mercy and CoxHealth did not come to an agreed-upon path forward with a partner, Mercy said in a news release.
Argueta said it was a mutual decision to end the collaboration over “a series of conversations.” But, in a statement, CoxHealth officials said they were surprised to learn that Mercy had ended the partnership. They said they were given “minimal notice” of plans to end the collaboration and that they are "greatly disappointed."
Argueta said working alongside CoxHealth to evaluate options for enhancing pediatric care in the region was the right place to start. He said Mercy knew there weren’t many examples across the country of what they were aiming to accomplish and that there was a chance they wouldn’t reach an agreement.
Marie Moore said partnering with Children’s Mercy Kansas City was the right choice to enhance pediatric services in the area.
"From the very beginning they've been very intentional about integrating into the community," she said.
Argueta said they are in the very beginning stages of the partnership with Children’s Mercy Kansas City and can’t yet say what it will look like for patients in southwest Missouri. But he said they will share details as they become available.
Meanwhile, CoxHealth officials said in the statement they’re still focused on transforming pediatric care in the region and will work closely with the community to consider the best options. They said “we will make decisions based on what is best for the children of our communities, independent of corporate self-interest.”
