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Our History

Deaconess Hospital and Riley Hospital for Children began seeing patients together in 1991 in a small pediatric cardiology clinic staffed with Riley pediatric cardiologists and Deaconess nursing  staff. Soon to follow that clinic was a pediatric pulmonary clinic.

In July 2004, Riley Hospital for Children, Deaconess Hospital and Riley Children’s Specialists announced a long-term, exclusive partnership designed to enhance the level of pediatric specialty care available in the Tri-State. Deaconess and Riley shared joint guidance and oversight of all components of the partnership. Components included

Deaconess Riley Children’s Specialty Center
  • Medical office on the Deaconess Gateway Campus that provided comprehensive and convenient access to pediatric specialty care.
  • Physicians from Riley in the specialties of cardiology, pulmonary medicine/cystic fibrosis, urology, gastroenterology, endocrinology/diabetes, pediatric surgery and neurology provided on-site services at regularly scheduled clinics supplemented by telemedicine visits and consultations.
  • The center’s staff and management received extensive training at Riley Hospital for Children to support these specialists.
Deaconess Riley Inpatient Services and Pediatric Intensive Care Unit
  • Representatives from Deaconess and Riley worked together to plan a 12-bed pediatric unit and a four-bed pediatric intensive care unit as part of construction of Deaconess Gateway Hospital.
Telemedicine Services
  • A specially designed monitoring station allowed Riley physicians in Indianapolis to see and hear local patients in real time, monitor their vital signs and otherwise assess their condition.       
  • Riley specialists could safely and effectively diagnose and treat patients remotely.
  • This telemedicine program was regionally available exclusively at Deaconess.
An official ribbon cutting ceremony was held in January 2006 to celebrate completion of the pediatric unit inside Gateway Hospital as well as success in the specialty center and telemedicine program.     

While the inpatient units remain in the Gateway Hospital, Deaconess Riley Children’s Specialty Center moved from its original location into Medical Office Building 2 on the Deaconess Gateway Campus in January 2018. The medical office building was part of the multi-million dollar expansion of the Gateway Campus that also included The Orthopedic and Neuroscience Hospital.
 
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