The Wisconsin state motto is “Forward,” and that ambitious spirit of progress powers Forward Pediatric Alliance, an innovative joint venture for pediatric and congenital heart care services at Children’s Wisconsin and UW Health Kids. 

The goal: to enhance the already excellent pediatric and congenital heart care available to patients in Wisconsin, from fetal life through adulthood, by delivering outstanding clinical outcomes, driving research and training the next generation of health care providers. 

“Forward Pediatric Alliance is strengthening two well-established congenital heart programs to advance the care we provide,” said Nicholas Peterson, Executive Director of the Herma Heart Institute at Children’s Wisconsin and Administrator of Forward Pediatric Alliance.

“We really want to be a force for congenital heart care in the Midwest,” added Kiefer Jundt, MHA, Director of the UW Health Kids Congenital Heart Program.

In the past, providers from both Children’s Wisconsin and UW Health Kids occasionally discussed complex cases, but with the creation of Forward Pediatric Alliance, the two programs now have the opportunity to formalize collaboration in a way that enhances capabilities while maintaining each organization’s independence.   

Together, the initiative is able to offer more collective expertise, more innovation and more support — creating a stronger, more connected experience for the patients and families we serve.

“This is the right thing for not just our institutions, but for kids with congenital heart disease,” said Jundt.

Collaboration That Expands Expertise

Forward Pediatric Alliance launched in January 2025 with an initial 10-year agreement. While implementation will ramp up over the first three years, patients are already benefiting in tangible ways, including weekly joint care conferences between the teams. 

“Now, whether you refer your patient to Children’s Wisconsin or UW Health Kids, the entire broader team is going to be involved in their care, so you don’t have to think about where you should send your patient,” said Peterson. “We are here to help make sure that the best providers in the state — in the Midwest — are taking care of your patient.”

That collective expertise is particularly an asset for rare and complex cases, which might have previously motivated providers to seek care at higher-volume centers in other states.

“Working together really allows us to put more brains around the table and figure out complex problems,” said Peterson.

Expanding Care Across the Lifespan

Forward Pediatric Alliance is also anopportunity to grow our programs’ strengths, which include complex neonatal care, pulmonary hypertension and adult congenital heart disease. 

“With the way that congenital heart care has advanced over the past 20, 30, 40 years, these kids that once didn’t have a great prognosis now grow up and live whole, healthy lives,” said Jundt. “And they grow into adults and need cardiologists that understand their congenital anomalies. Continuing to invest in and build adult congenital services will be a great strength of our program.” 

Forward Pediatric Alliance also creates powerful new opportunities for research collaboration. The Children’s Wisconsin and UW Health Kids teams meet for a monthly research forum to learn more about the innovation happening on both campuses, and researchers who study coarctation of the aorta have already begun working together to leverage the unique resources at both sites. The increased scale of the combined patient populations allows for a more scientific evaluation of quality and outcomes, potentially leading to faster improvements in care.

“We can really look at statistics and at patterns across a broader number of patients over time,” said J. Carter Ralphe, MD, Co-Director of the Congenital Heart Program at UW Health Kids, Professor of Pediatric Cardiology and Division Chief at University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. “We’re going to be able to track performance, building upon skills and strengths of both campuses and combining them
in novel ways.”

Training the Next Generation

The dynamic possibilities of Forward Pediatric Alliance could make both institutions even more successful in attracting and retaining top medical talent, including trainees and junior faculty, program leaders note.

“Being able to collaborate means that we can recruit the best and brightest as well as let those best and brightest really focus on what matters most to them in patient care,” said Peter Bartz, MD, Co-Director of the Herma Heart Institute at Children’s Wisconsin and Professor and Chief of pediatric cardiology at the Medical College of Wisconsin. “And then we can ensure that patients get the right care, at the right place, at the right time.”