Three Michigan hospitals in the US have joined forces to form the Michigan Community Hospitals Improving Equity for Children (Mi-CHIME) to improve equity in paediatric healthcare across the state.

The collaborating hospitals comprise Covenant Children's Hospital in Saginaw, Munson Medical Center in Traverse City, and MyMichigan Medical Center in Alpena.

This initiative, coordinated by Michigan Medicine researchers and supported by the Michigan Health Endowment Fund, aims to identify and rectify equity issues among paediatric patients within these institutions.

Munson Healthcare chief medical officer Joe Santangelo said: "As the paediatric leader in our region, Munson Medical Center is proud to collaborate with Mi-CHIME to improve equity in paediatric healthcare across Michigan.

"As the largest hospital serving all of northern Michigan, we are committed to providing the best care possible for our kids. This initiative will make us better and our communities healthier long-term.”

The collaborative approach includes defining research topics, establishing methodologies to confirm the existence of inequities, and sharing data and quality improvement strategies.

Munson Healthcare paediatrics medical director Jacques Burgess said: “We are pleased to be able to work with other healthcare partners and the University of Michigan to look at the care we provide through a new lens.

“We believe that everyone should have access to a just opportunity to be as healthy as possible – this partnership embodies that commitment.”

Upon confirming an inequity, Mi-CHIME will facilitate a joint effort to develop and implement interventions aimed at quality improvement.

The findings from Mi-CHIME are intended to be shared widely, offering valuable insights to local, state and national policymakers.

The goal is to provide concrete, actionable steps to recognise and tackle healthcare disparities.

Mi-CHIME draws inspiration from the Michigan Child Health Equity Collaborative (Mi-CHEC), another Michigan Medicine-led initiative.

The initiative has investigated areas such as race/ethnicity verification in electronic medical records, emergency service throughput times, and the use of restraints in emergency departments.

Mi-CHEC includes CS Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor, Children's Hospital of Michigan in Detroit, and Helen DeVos Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids.

Mi-CHIME associate director Susan Woolford said: "Mi-CHEC has given us an excellent blueprint to follow.

"Both of these collaborations have the potential to improve health outcomes for Michigan’s children and to be a model for other states nationwide."

The new Mi-CHIME collaborative aims to extend this impact to community hospitals.