Coeur d'Alene Pediatrics, Heritage Health partner to expand family care access

Coeur d’Alene Pediatrics and Heritage Health announced a formal partnership intended to broaden access to preventive pediatric visits, dental and behavioral health, saying, "By working together, we’re building something bigger for families: preventive visits that start early, easier access to dental and behavioral health and coordinated services that simplify care instead of complicating it," the press release quoted in the Coeur d’Alene Press said.

The organizations made the announcement Feb. 22, 2026, and the press release added, "No immediate changes are planned. Appointments continue as usual." That notice was offered to reassure existing patients of Coeur d’Alene Pediatrics that current scheduling and visits would continue under the new partnership arrangement.

Mike Baker, CEO of Heritage Health, framed the alliance around the health system’s long-standing community role, saying, "At Heritage Health, our mission is to improve life — and that starts with children." Heritage Health’s website describes the organization as "North Idaho’s largest provider of medical, dental, and behavioral health services" and notes it has served the region "For more than 40 years," signaling the system-level capacity the partnership aims to bring.

Dr. Duane Craddock of Coeur d’Alene Pediatrics emphasized continuity of care in remarks included in the press release, saying, "Families will continue receiving the personal, relationship-based care they trust, while we gain new resources to deepen our focus on prevention and whole-family wellness." The original report identifies Coeur d’Alene Pediatrics as "a long‑established pediatric practice in the region," underscoring the local roots of the pediatric partner.

Heritage Health’s public materials list the services and patient tools the partner network can provide: primary care, pediatrics, pharmacy, therapy, dental, psychiatric, neurobehavioral and recovery services. The website also promotes patient-facing features such as a patient portal, "Self Schedule Now!", online bill pay and a 24-hour nurse hotline at 208-620-5250, and it points patients to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline for crisis support.

The press release framed the agreement as creating space for future work — "This partnership gives us room to innovate, create new services and support families in more meaningful ways," it said — but did not specify concrete program rollouts, clinic location changes, staffing adjustments or financial terms. An Instagram fragment included in the supplied materials states, "Our second phase will expand services for our Primary care, Pediatrics, Dental and Pharmacy," but the fragment is incomplete and does not make clear whether it refers to this partnership.

Families seeking care were reminded the partners continue regular operations and that Heritage Health maintains a 24-hour nurse hotline at 208-620-5250 and directs crisis callers to 988. The Coeur d’Alene Press, which published the organizations’ press release, lists its offices at 215 N. 2nd St., Coeur d'Alene, ID 83814 and phone 208-664-8176 in its site footer.