A ribbon-cutting ceremony held this week celebrated the opening of a fetal medicine and children’s heart program at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.

The opening of the programs is a joint initiative by Mount Sinai and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), according to a May 31 press release form the providers. Their alliance, which is 18 months old, will provide the first services of its kind in the city.

“Mount Sinai is pleased to collaborate with CHOP, a world-renowned institution, to ensure excellent patient care," said Kenneth L. Davis, MD, president and CEO of the Mount Sinai Health System, in a statement. "Our goal is to offer the highest quality maternal, fetal, and pediatric care to patients—especially those with complex needs—across a large health system and a fast-growing ambulatory care network. And together, we will be uniquely positioned to recruit and retain the best faculty in the region."

The fetal medicine program will offer access to a number of services that will better help treat mothers and their babies. The program will offer diagnostic testing, ultrasound, echocardiography and fetal MRI. All diagnostic testing will be performed at Mount Sinai Hospital.

“CHOP is pleased to mark this milestone in the relationship between two health care institutions that are totally dedicated to caring for the health of children and their families,” said Madeline Bell, president and CEO of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, in a statement. “The alliance with the Mount Sinai Health System continues to evolve and reflects both a shared vision to better serve families in the New York region and a mutual professional respect and admiration between our organizations.”