It’s hard to imagine that one year has passed since CHOC Children’s and UC Irvine reached our historic strategic affiliation, paving the way for the creation of a world-class academic pediatrics center that integrates high-quality, comprehensive care; leading-edge research; and excellent training  programs...
                                         --Read the letter from CHOC CEO Kim Cripe and UC Irvine Medical Center CEO Terry Belmont

An exciting new era in pediatric care has begun.
CHOC Children’s and University of California, Irvine, have a strategic affiliation, working together to create a world-class pediatrics center that integrates high-quality, comprehensive patient care; leading-edge research; and exemplary teaching programs.

CHOC provides inpatient and outpatient pediatric specialty care to patients, while UC Irvine Medical Center continues to provide pediatric emergency services, burn care, trauma services requiring immediate surgery, neonatal intensive care, newborn nursery care, and child and adolescent psychiatry. 

As a result of the affiliation, UC Irvine Department of Pediatrics physicians joined CHOC's Pediatric Subspecialty Faculty, creating the largest and most comprehensive group of pediatric subspecialists in the region. Many CHOC doctors now have faculty appointments at UC Irvine, and UC Irvine physicians have the opportunity to treat more patients in CHOC's pediatric-focused environment.  The ability to retain this talented group of pediatric experts, while recruiting more academic researchers who are also strong clinicians has been enhanced by the affiliation.  This is great news for Southern California children and families.

Bringing advanced treatment to the bedside
CHOC and UC Irvine have a history of collaborating on research that brings advanced treatment to patients, including the National Children’s Study, which is the largest and most comprehensive long-term study of environmental effects on child health and development.  Through the formal affiliation, additional grants have been awarded to both institutions, and CHOC researchers have access to valuable University resources, like the Beckman Laser Institute, in an effort to bring breakthrough therapies and cures to pediatric patients.

Training the next generation of physicians
Committed to training the next generation of pediatric experts, CHOC and UC Irvine will integrate their pediatric residency programs.  Currently, UC Irvine medical students conduct their clinical clerkship rotation at CHOC, providing them with increased access to a greater number of pediatric cases and enhancing their overall training and education. 

While both CHOC and UC Irvine remain separate institutions, the strategic affiliation will transform the delivery of pediatric care in Orange County and beyond.

If you are a physician with questions about the affiliation, please contact CHOC Physician Relations Manager Hannah Marcus at (714) 516-4224 or hmarcus@choc.org.