By Paul Sisson | San Diego Union-Tribune
There have always been similarities between Orange and San Diego counties. Both have about 3 million residents and dozens of miles of coastline. And another similarity is in the works.
On Wednesday, Children’s Hospital of Orange County and Rady Children’s Hospital announced their intent to merge, pending regulatory approval from the state attorney general.
The parent companies of each organization would merge under the name Rady Children’s Health with a governing board with directors appointed 50/50 by the two founding members. But both organizations also have subsidiary organizations that run everything from individual hospitals to charitable foundations and medical groups.
While the parent umbrella groups would merge, the plan is to leave the subsidiaries as they are, complete with existing governing boards. As to what names will appear on existing CHOC properties, the top executives at each hospital said signage is still undecided.
But Dr. Patricio Frias, Rady’s chief executive officer, said that everyone is aware of the brand recognition that organizations have earned in the communities they have served for decades.
“We want to make sure we’re honoring the histories of both organizations,” Frias said, speaking with Kimberly Chavalas Cripe, CHOC’s president and CEO, in an joint interview Wednesday.
A joint statement indicates that the two organizations believe that becoming one will help train and recruit talent, and expand access to pediatric care throughout Southern California and promote research.
Previous collaborations, including a newborn genetic testing initiative called Project Baby Bear, and a grant-funded project on population health that started in 2013, helped persuade the organization’s executives that the cultures were close enough to make a merger work.
“The fact that we have a good history together I think is going to set us up for success as we’re bringing our teams…
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