Full Press Release Details
ORLANDO, Fla., Nov. 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Prolonged or repeated hospital stays, particularly for children, can place a significant burden on patients, families, and the healthcare system, underscoring the need for innovative models that can safely move care into the home. Recognizing the need to develop sustainable models beyond the hospital walls, Nemours Children's Health, one of the nation's largest multistate pediatric health systems, recently brought together leaders from across the healthcare industry for the 2026 Pediatric Advanced Care at Home Conference to advance the national conversation around designing, operationalizing, and scaling a national pediatric home care model.
"Children's hospitals provide exceptional inpatient care. When children with complex medical needs go home, they need a different level of support to remain healthy and avoid readmissions," said R. Lawrence Moss, MD, FACS, FAAP, President and CEO of Nemours Children's Health. "By bringing together the nation's leading experts in pediatric care delivered at home, we are accelerating innovation and reaching more children and families across America."
With more than 100 leading healthcare voices and experts in attendance, the conference convened pediatric clinical and program leadership, researchers, payer and policy organizations, and safety and quality assurance leaders, who explored practical strategies, emerging models, reimbursement and measurement approaches, challenges, and lessons learned from various programs and models.
For Nemours Children's Health, the 2026 Pediatric Advanced Care at Home Conference represents a broader effort not only to develop new approaches to pediatric care at home, but also to create a shared vision and approach that the industry can evolve and adopt nationally.
"Being in the hospital for extended periods can be unsettling and disruptive for children and entire families," said Jane M. Mericle, DNP, MHS-CL, BSN, RN, CENP, Executive Vice President, Enterprise Chief Nursing Executive and Patient Operations Officer of Nemours Children's Health. "This conference was a great opportunity to co-create the future of pediatric home care and support to ensure that children can safely and seamlessly receive care at home where they heal best and are the most comfortable."
In 2025, Nemours Children's Health established its Center for Pediatric Advanced Care at Home, which launched the health system's own pediatric advanced care at home model. The model combines technology and 24/7 clinical access with personalized care, allowing eligible children who are medically stable to receive the enhanced care needed to complete more of their recovery at home. To date, more than 700 patients have enrolled in the program through Nemours Children's.
About Nemours Children's Health
Nemours Children's Health is one of the nation's largest multistate pediatric health systems, which includes two free-standing children's hospitals and a network of 80 primary and specialty care practices. Nemours Children's seeks to transform the health of children by adopting a holistic health model that utilizes innovative, safe, and high-quality care, while also addressing children's needs well beyond medicine. In producing the highly acclaimed, award-winning pediatric medicine podcast Well Beyond Medicine, Nemours underscores that commitment by featuring the people, programs and partnerships addressing Whole Child Health. Nemours Children's also powers the world's most-visited website for information on the health of children and teens, Nemours KidsHealth.org.
The Nemours Foundation, established through the legacy and philanthropy of Alfred I. duPont, provides pediatric clinical care, research, education, advocacy, and prevention programs to the children, families and communities it serves. For more information, visit Nemours.org.