Press Release
For Immediate Release
Contact: Susan Preston
(973) 972-7265
At UMDNJ-New
Jersey Medical School
Medical School
Establishes New Pediatric Asthma Program
With $600,000 donation from the Aventis Pharmaceuticals Foundation
The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ)
is establishing a comprehensive pediatric asthma program on its
Newark campus thanks to a $600,000 donation from the Aventis Pharmaceuticals
Foundation.
The announcement of the new program
was made today (August 26) at a news conference at UMDNJ-New Jersey
Medical School.
The Aventis donation is enabling
the Department of Pediatrics at UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School
to open a pediatric asthma center equipped with state-of-the-art
equipment and staffed by three pediatric pulmonologists and community
education professionals whose focus is asthma care and prevention
for children. The center will be located on the fourth floor of
the medical school's Doctors' Office Center.
Dr. Robert L. Johnson, interim
chair of pediatrics at UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, said,
"We are delighted that Aventis shares our philosophy of providing
health care to children in urban settings such as Newark. Their
generosity is allowing us to structure a model for treating pediatric
asthma that is truly sensitive to the needs and lifestyle demands
of the community we serve. Because we will have a program that
reflects this reality, I expect we will make a significant difference
in helping children with asthma lead more normal lives in
which this very difficult chronic
health condition is only one component, not the centerpiece of
their life experience."
Gerald P. Belle, president of Aventis
Pharmaceuticals, North America, said, "Aventis is committed to
addressing the health needs of the communities where our employees
live and work. For this reason, Aventis is providing UMDNJ with
funding to establish the Pediatric Asthma Program. We believe
this program will greatly increase awareness of the disease for
both families whose children have asthma and the community as
a whole. Our hope is that this program will help improve the lives
of children with asthma and their families."
This donation is the lead gift
in a larger campaign to create the Asthma Center of Excellence
at UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School. Its mission will be to provide
both acute and long-term medical care to adults and children with
asthma as well as conduct research to further our understanding
of this debilitating health condition.
Also participating in the news
conference were Robbie Buhl, representing Racing for Kids, a national
organization of motor sports organizations sponsored by Aventis
that raises funds for children's health problems, and the Reverend
Theresa Rushdan, a minister in Madison, N.J., whose daughter's
asthma condition was so serious as an infant that she had to take
the child to class with her while she pursued her studies in theology.
In 2003, about 1, 870 children
were brought to the emergency room of UMDNJ-University Hospital
to be treated for asthma. Of that number, 112 had been to the
ER at least three times that year; 428 were admitted to the hospital
for treatment, including 69 to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.
"Unfortunately, many of our pediatric
asthma patients do not have family physicians and as a result
must seek care through the ER," Dr. Johnson said. "The experience
for both the children and their families is traumatic and it is
not an effective use of patient care resources."
The Aventis Pediatric Asthma Program
will allow the medical school and the hospital to offer proactive
coordinated patient and family-centered care that will include
appropriate medical care, and case management to assist other
services essential to patient care, such as arranging transportation
to and from a doctor's appointment and filling out health insurance
forms.
In addition, to assure a high level
of wellness in the wake of treatment for acute illness, the program
has both nurses and social workers who will follow the asthmatic
youngsters on an outpatient basis, including working with their
in-school health programs. The case management team also will
perform home assessments in order to develop effective out-patient
asthma prevention regimens for patients and their families. This
regimen will include teaching the families how control indoor
allergens such as dust and smoke, the importance of eating a proper
diet, understanding when and how to use prescribed medication,
and techniques for dealing more effectively with acute episodes
of asthma to help decrease the need for urgent medical care.
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