MINNEAPOLIS, Nov. 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota today, along with HealthPartners, broke ground on a new shared clinic in Hugo. The clinic is one way the two organizations are working together to improve the health of children in Minnesota.

The facility will house a HealthPartners clinic for patients of all ages, a night and weekend urgent care, and will also be the new home of Northeast Pediatric Clinic, currently located in Vadnais Heights and part of Children's of Minnesota. Northeast Pediatrics and HealthPartners will collaborate and share space and clinical support services including an on-site lab and x-ray.

When Children's of Minnesota acquired Northeast Pediatrics in 2010, one of the goals was to build a new clinic that would enhance the services provided to children and families in the area.

"In this new shared space, patients and families will experience the same high level of care and compassion they have come to expect from Children's, HealthPartners and Northeast Pediatrics," said Dave Overman, chief operating officer at Children's of Minnesota. "This combined location helps our organizations be more cost-effective, provides added convenience for families and ultimately, helps all of us deliver the best possible care."  

The new clinic, scheduled to open in mid-2013, is part of a broader effort by Children's and HealthPartners to improve the health of children in Minnesota. Earlier in 2012, the organizations announced an initiative to combat childhood obesity in the Twin Cities metro area.

Northeast Pediatrics name will not change and the clinic will continue to offer pediatric expertise and the convenience of same day appointments. The new clinic will also have extended hours.

Like all HealthPartners clinics, the clinic in Hugo will accept most kinds of insurance. A patient does not need HealthPartners insurance to visit the clinic.

The clinic will be located at 14701 Victor Hugo Blvd N., off of Main Street near Festival Foods.

About HealthPartners
Founded in 1957, HealthPartners (www.healthpartners.com) is the largest consumer-governed, nonprofit health care organization in the nation providing care, coverage, research and education to improve the health of members, patients and the community.  HealthPartners serves more than 1.4 million medical and dental health plan members nationwide. HealthPartners 800 physicians and dentists provide award winning multi-specialty care for more than 500,000 patients at 70 medical and dental clinics, 17 pharmacies and at Regions Hospital, Lakeview Hospital, Hudson Hospital and Westfields Hospital.

About Northeast Pediatric Clinic
Northeast Pediatric Clinic provides child and family-oriented, quality pediatric specialty care for newborns, children and young adults. Serving children in the northeast area of the Twin Cities since 1990, the clinic aligned with Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota in 2010. Through this alignment, the four pediatricians at Northeast Pediatrics have more access to Children's resources and specialists to offer the best quality care to children in the community.

About Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota:
Serving as Minnesota's children's hospital since 1924, Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota is one of the largest pediatric health care organizations in the United States, with 347 staffed beds at its two hospitals in St. Paul and Minneapolis. An independent, not-for-profit health care system, Children's of Minnesota provides care through more than 12,000 inpatient visits and more than 200,000 emergency room and other outpatient clinic visits every year. Children's is the only Minnesota hospital system to provide comprehensive care exclusively to children. Please visit childrensMN.org.

SOURCE Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota