Helping Kids Breath Easier in the South Bronx

The South Bronx children should be feeling healthier soon. That’s because a new child health center is scheduled to open in their neighborhood this month. The $2.3 million facility is being lauded as a first of its kind. Opening at 890 Prospect Avenue, in a county that has known too much poverty, childhood obesity, diabetes and asthma, this center plans to make a difference.

It will be run cooperatively by the Children’s Health Fund (CHF) and the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore (CHAM) and will guide children from the womb to the age of 21 — completely for free.

New Way of Thinking About Health Care

As Dr. Irwin Redlener, the president of CHF said, “This center represents a new way of thinking about children’s health care.”

The center will staff five medical doctors, a psychologist, a psychiatrist, a nutritionist and a social worker, all of whom will provide specialized plans for the 2500 patients and 21,000 visits they expect each year. The center will accept insurances and Medicaid, but will also make sure that everyone receives care with a combination of private funding and federal stimulus money.

End the Medical Isolation

Dr. Alan Shapiro, the senior medical director of the center and a pediatrician, hopes that the center will help immigrants who are “isolated here and without any family to help.”

The center is looking to have an all-inclusive nature. One example is the special scale they have for wheelchair-bound children so that they can have their weight checked and monitored.

In addition, they are equipped with cutting-edge technology for enhanced patient care. With wireless internet and video conferencing, the doctors on staff with have access to telemedicine, should they need to consult with doctors in other areas of the country.