Sickle Cell Disease
$1.1 Million Grant to Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital Foundation Helps Both Patients and Families
- Sickle Cell Day Hospital
- Sickle Cell Support Group
- Health Library Information About Sickle Cell Disease
September 2006 — Through a $1.1 million grant to Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital Foundation, the Florida Partnership for Access to Sickle Cell Services (PASS) program is making a difference for those with sickle cell disease or sickle cell trait. By creating a database of newly diagnosed newborns, the innovative, regional program seeks to identify families at risk, interpret information about sickle cell trait and other inherited blood disorders, analyze inheritance patterns and risks of recurrence, and review available options with the family.
“The PASS program is creating a seamless system of notification and follow-up,” says Lanetta Bronte, MD, Director of Sickle Cell Services at Memorial Cancer Institute and Project Director of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Genetic Services Grant. “It is giving South Florida the tools and resources to address the needs of our adolescent population as they prepare to independently manage their own healthcare.”
Funded by the HRSA, the Quantum Foundation and other area agencies, the PASS grant creates a region-wide collaboration among healthcare agencies, community-based organizations, private foundations and government agencies, including Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, Children’s Medical Service and the Sickle Cell Foundation of Broward and Palm Beach Counties.
“This will be a model program of sickle cell disease support services that includes notification, follow-up, extended family testing, outreach, psychosocial support, genetic counseling, and education for affected individuals and families,” says Iftikhar Hanif, MD, pediatric hematologist and Medical Director of the state-designated Regional Hematology/Oncology Center at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital.
Serving Sickle Cell Patients in South Broward
The Sickle Cell Day Hospital at Memorial Regional Hospital is the first facility in Florida dedicated exclusively to the treatment of sickle cell disease in patients age 16 and older. It also is the first program of its kind in the nation granted “Disease-Specific Certification” by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), the predominant standards-setting and accrediting body in healthcare.
With help from the Day Hospital, patients have the resources to manage their conditions and avoid hospitalization. In addition, through a partnership with the Broward County Sickle Cell Disease Association, Memorial Regional Hospital has a dedicated sickle cell social worker onsite to address the psychosocial needs of patients and their families. Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, Memorial Cancer Institute and the Centers for Blood Disorders work together to help adolescent patients make the transition to adult care.
If you would like a referral to physician, please call Memorial Physician Referral Service toll-free at (800) 944-DOCS. We’re available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.