JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Children’s medical care in Jacksonville is entering a new era following an announcement by Wolfson Children’s Hospital.
Wolfson has agreed to partner with Nemours Children’s Health while at the same time dropping its partnership with UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital, located in Gainesville.
“Wolfson Children’s Hospital is the only children’s hospital in the region. This is where patients go for a higher level of medical care such as addressing a health emergency, being admitted for treatment, having surgery, or receiving care that requires an overnight stay or around-the-clock monitoring by specialized teams. In Jacksonville, Nemours Children’s cares for the community’s children in physician offices and specialty clinics for outpatient follow-up appointments and ongoing treatments. Additionally, Nemours Children’s doctors have long-provided inpatient care for children at Wolfson Children’s Hospital. The announcement is about Nemours Children’s Health doctors and advanced practice providers covering more specialties at Wolfson Children’s Hospital like NICU, PICU, neurosurgery and others,” Baptist Health spokesperson Wesley Roberts said.
Under the old agreement which included UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital, there were certain medical services that required pediatric patients to travel to Gainesville, which may have put a strain on some families.
Beginning March 1, the new agreement would allow pediatric patients in Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia to remain in the region for special medical services that include:
- Neonatology and newborn nursery services in Wolfson Children’s Neonatal Intensive Care Units and Baptist Health’s Labor & Delivery units.
- Critical Care Medicine in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit
- Neurosurgery
- Infectious Diseases
- Rheumatology
- Nephrology
- Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
- Palliative Care
Starting in August 2026, Nemours Children’s will also offer Genetics for Wolfson Children’s.
“By adding these additional services into the spectrum of care that we’re providing at Nemours and Wolfson, our ability to build our volume around the types of specialty cases that we see gives us the opportunity to keep kids here in the community,” Aaron Carpenter, Nemours North Florida President said.
Allegra Jaros, the Wolfson Children’s Hospital President said it should improve access to services in a timely manner.
“And it will help us make sure that we’re communicating and we’re coordinating the care so that families aren’t having to put two and two together,” Jaros said.
Ryliegh Walker is an example of why this expanded collaboration was needed. Walker has undergone multiple heart operations for a rare condition and may require more operations. She and her dad are fortunate to have to travel so far away for her care.
“Long drive, but also I don’t know about staying there than the care I get here,” Walker said.
Her father, Craig Walker, said they were given the opportunity to go to Gainesville, but decided against it.
“We chose to stay here because everything was right here and available,” Craig Walker said.
“By adding these