Children's Hospital Central California announces major changes, including name change

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The hospital is changing its name back to "Valley Children's Hospital" and setting up a new health care network.

More major changes are coming to the Valley's only children's hospital.

Besides the name change, Hospital President and CEO Todd Suntrapak also announced the creation of a new "Valley Children's Healthcare Network" on Wednesday morning. The goal is to guarantee Valley families will not have to travel more than 30-minutes to get pediatric care from a Valley Children's Hospital clinic, physician or doctor.

Suntrapak also announced an effort to keep very sick kids closer to home with an expanded partnership with Stanford Children's Health.

In an exclusive interview with Action News Anchor Warren Armstrong, Hospital President and Chief Executive Officer Todd Suntrapak said the changes at Valley Children's Hospital will be an investment worth millions to Central California. The overall goal is to improve the health and well-being of children in the Valley.

Suntrapak said, "And creating this network of care where children can be closer to home to get their care and families are not disrupted to have access to pediatric specialty care is our commitment. We are in a position now after careful thought, planning and partnership development -- to be able to do that better than every before."

Suntrapak says the changes at the hospital have been years in the making -- well before the hospital's recent split with Sante Community Physicians, the Valley's largest doctors' group.

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--> Click here to read the entire press release - PDF

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Watch the video see Warren Armstrong's interview with Valley Children's Hospital CEO Todd Suntrapak.