Dateline DFCI
Dana-Farber, Children's Hospital formalize longstanding relationship
Stephen Sallan, M.D., and a patient at Children's Hospital Boston.
Of the many institutional partnerships established during David G. Nathan, M.D.'s, presidency, one of the newest is, in many ways, also the oldest. In April, Dana-Farber and Children's Hospital Boston signed a "Memorandum of Understanding" that formalizes the close working relationship the two hospitals have enjoyed over the past 50-plus years. "The memorandum creates the structure — called the Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Center (DF/CHCC) — that will allow us to deepen our longstanding collaboration and to provide even better care for our patients in the future," Nathan stated.
The relationship between the two institutions goes back to 1947, when Sidney Farber, M.D., then chairman of the Division of Laboratories and Research at Children's, moved across Binney Street to establish the Children's Cancer Research Foundation that became Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Under the new, formal affiliation, outpatient pediatric oncology care will continue to be delivered at Dana-Farber's Jimmy Fund Clinic, and inpatient oncology care will be provided at Children's, which will also continue to offer both inpatient and outpatient hematology services.
"The primary goal of the affiliation is to create a seamless patient care experience for children whose illness requires the full spectrum of inpatient and outpatient hematology or oncology pediatric services."
— Stephen Sallan, M.D. Dana-Farber chief of staff, DF/CHCC chief medical officer
"The primary goal of the affiliation is to create a seamless patient care experience for children whose illness requires the full spectrum of inpatient and outpatient hematology or oncology pediatric services," says Stephen Sallan, M.D., chief of staff at Dana-Farber and chief medical officer of DF/CHCC.
Nathan, who served as physician-in-chief at Children's from 1985 to 1995 before taking the helm at Dana-Farber, said that despite the two institutions' long partnership, "there are still opportunities to improve the coordination of care and service through this more formal structure. For instance, we would like to pursue one integrated medical records and a common pharmacy order-entry system."
Added David Weiner, former longtime chief executive officer at Children's, "For years Children's Hospital and Dana-Farber have worked hand-in-hand to cure cancer in children. It's been a very successful partnership that we are now formally recognizing and looking to improve upon."
