Wolfson, Nemours join forces to improve Jacksonville-area child health
Wolfson Children’s Hospital and Nemours Children’s Health will expand their clinical collaboration with more specialties and seamless care.
- Wolfson Children’s Hospital and Nemours Children’s Health are expanding their clinical collaboration in Jacksonville.
- The partnership will add eight new pediatric specialties, including neonatology, critical care, and neurosurgery.
- This expansion aims to provide seamless, integrated care for children in Northeast Florida and South Georgia.
Wolfson Children’s Hospital and Nemours Children’s Health have expanded their longstanding clinical collaboration in Jacksonville, adding eight specialties and strengthening their goal to provide “seamless care” between hospitalization, clinic visits and ongoing treatment.
Wolfson, part of the Baptist Health system, is Northeast Florida’s only specialty children’s hospital, while Nemours is one of the nation’s largest multistate pediatric health systems.
Their partnership already includes many specialities including general surgery, hematology/oncology, orthopedics, trauma surgery and urology. The expansion was announced on Feb. 18.
What are the new specialties?
Wolfson, Nemours join forces to improve Jacksonville-area child health
Wolfson Children’s Hospital and Nemours Children’s Health will expand their clinical collaboration with more specialties and seamless care.
In March, Nemours physicians and advanced practice providers will provide care for additional inpatient and ambulatory specialties at Wolfson. They are:
- Neonatology and newborn nursery services in Wolfson’s neonatal intensive care units and Baptist Health’s labor and delivery units;
- Critical care medicine in Wolfson’s pediatric intensive care unit;
- Neurosurgery;
- Infectious diseases;
- Rheumatology;
- Nephrology;
- Physical medicine and rehabilitation; and
- Palliative care.
Nemours will also offer genetics services at Wolfson beginning in August and plans to open new outpatient clinics in the area, including offices for neonatal intensive care unit follow-ups and medically complex care.
Why are Wolfson and Nemours expanding their collaboration?
“Throughout its 70-year history, Wolfson … has grown into a specialty children’s network with national recognition, building a strong foundation that allows us to further elevate care for our community’s children,” Wolfson President Allegra Jaros said. “By expanding our collaboration with Nemours … and having their providers work as an integrated part of our care team, we are ensuring that families across our region have greater access to world-class pediatric expertise right here in Jacksonville.”
Nemours Children’s North Florida President Aaron Carpenter said the two health care organizations are “deeply invested in the well-being of children in North Florida and South Georgia.”
“We share a vision for providing top quality, accessible specialty care,” he said. “This expanded agreement brings together the strengths of two leading pediatric institutions to deliver comprehensive, coordinated care that improves outcomes for children with both routine and highly complex conditions.”
When did Wolfson and Nemours begin working together?
The partnership began about 30 years ago. But in 2025, Wolfson announced it would end a longtime clinical partnership with UF Health Jacksonville in favor of an expanded alliance with Nemours. The shift was to begin early this year.
Also in 2025, Nemours started providing cardiology services at Wolfson and operating cardiology clinics in the area under a joint operating agreement. “This alignment allows care teams to work side by side across the full continuum of heart care, from diagnosis through intervention and follow-up,” according to Wolfson.
Ryleigh Walker, 13, is one of the cardiology patients cared for by Nemours and Wolfson. She, her father and her Nemours cardologist, Dr. Robert English, attended the announcement.
“I was born with a heart defect … and I got rushed into open heart surgery. I stayed in the hospital for 11 days,” Ryleigh said. “Then 14 or 15 months later I had another another surgery and was in the hospital for a couple weeks. Three months ago I had my third heart surgery and was in the hospital for about a week. Wolfson Children’s and Nemours gave me great care. They make patients feel great.”
English said Ryleigh’s rare congenital heart defect is called truncus arteriosus.
“With this defect, instead of having two large arteries which carry the blood from the heart to the lungs and to the rest of the body, there is one large artery that does both jobs. There’s also a large hole in the heart,” he said.
English said she faces a lifetime of surgeries. She had her third open heart surgery on Nov. 17 at Wolfson, replacing the artery connecting her heart to her lungs. “She did great and has recovered well,” he said.
Ryleigh’s father, Craig Walker, said, “It is refreshing to see doctors and nurses working together. They got the job done.”
To make an appointment in any of the Nemours pediatric subspecialty care services, call (904) 697-3600. For more information about the collaboration, go to WolfsonChildrens.com/Nemours.
[email protected], (904) 359-4109
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