Press Release
July 26, 2007
Contact: Terri Guess
(973) 972-3000
guesstp@umdnj.edu
The Children's Health Fund and University of
Medicine
and Dentistry of New Jersey Announce New
Partnership - The New Jersey Children's Health Project
|
NEWARK — The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and The Children’s Health Fund today joined with Newark Mayor Corey Booker, and key legislative and community leaders to celebrate and launch a new program that is bringing medical care to inner-city children.
The New Jersey Children’s Health Project, a partnership of The Children’s Health Fund (CHF) and UMDNJ-School of Nursing, will use a state-of-the-art Mobile Medical Unit (MMU) to deliver primary healthcare services to children and their families in Newark and Elizabeth, N.J. The UMDNJ-School of Nursing is managing and staffing the project and the MMU was provided by CHF.
“This project will help fill a vital need for better access to healthcare in under-served, urban neighborhoods. Moreover, it is a visible example of UMDNJ 's accelerated commitment to the communities in which we have a major presence.” said Dr. William F. Owen Jr., president of UMDNJ. “As a statewide asset, we are pleased to better serve families and children right in their own neighborhoods.”
From Tuesday through Saturday each week, the 38-foot CHF signature “blue van,” will park at fixed locations. In this fully-equipped medical office on wheels, the healthcare staff will perform physical examinations, provide health screenings, and diagnose, treat and manage common illnesses. Staff will also provide referrals to specialty and inpatient care, as well as case management, disease prevention, and education services.
"More children than ever are having difficulty getting the health care they need and that impacts them in so many ways,” said Dr. Irwin Redlener, president of CHF. “The New Jersey project ensures that our children can be at their healthiest, so they can grow and develop into the best young men and women they can become. We are so pleased to be working with the School of Nursing, because of its special commitment to providing quality services to medically underserved children and families.” The New Jersey project is one of 21 CHF pediatric programs in 13 states and Washington, D.C.
In Newark, the MMU will be parked outside of the facilities of organizations including the Clinton Hill Community Center; Covenant House, El Club del Barrio, Vision of Hope; The Leaguers, Inc.; and the West Ward Cultural Center. With the Mobile Medical Unit, “we drive right up to the locations of these agencies to provide care,” says Dr. Gloria McNeal, the director of the project. Elizabeth sites will be determined in the near future, she notes.
A professor and associate dean at the School of Nursing, Dr. McNeal manages a staff that includes advanced practice nurses, an EMT-driver, and a medical secretary. The project’s medical director is Dr. Mark Johnson, chair of the department of family medicine at New Jersey Medical School. Dr. Madolene Aliparo, also a NJMS faculty member, is pediatric medical director for the project. Representatives of 20 community agencies sit on the project’s advisory committee.
The New Jersey Children’s Health Project is a program of the UMDNJ-School of Nursing’s mobile healthcare project, which will expand to other areas of the state, said Dr. McNeal. The nursing school contributed $375,000 to the project, which has also received a $250,000 grant from the Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey and a five-year, $1.7 million grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services.
In addition to the mobile healthcare project, UMDNJ-School of Nursing operates the Camden Health Center, which serves uninsured and underinsured residents of Camden, NJ.
Additional information on the New Jersey Children’s Health Project can be obtained by calling 973-972-8346 or by visiting http://sn.umdnj.edu/njchp/.
The Children’s Health Fund
Founded by pediatrician/child advocate Irwin Redlener, MD, and singer/songwriter Paul Simon, CHF launched its first program in 1987 with a state-of-the-art mobile medical unit that brought medical care directly to homeless children in family shelters. CHF has since replicated the mobile medical model across the country and now consists of 21 rural and urban pediatric programs in 13 states and Washington DC. (http://www.childrenshealthfund.org/).
CHF is committed to providing health care to the nation’s most medically underserved children and their families through the development and support of innovative primary care medical programs, response to public health crises, and the promotion of guaranteed access to appropriate health care for all children.
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey
The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) is the nation’s largest free-standing public health sciences university with more than 5,700 students attending the state's three medical schools, its only dental school, a graduate school of biomedical sciences, a school of health related professions, a school of nursing and a school of public health on five campuses. Annually, there are more than two million patient visits at UMDNJ facilities and faculty practices at campuses in Newark, New Brunswick/Piscataway, Scotch Plains, Camden and Stratford. UMDNJ operates University Hospital, a Level I Trauma Center in Newark, and University Behavioral HealthCare, a statewide mental health and addiction services network.
