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November 2, 2009
Campaign Emory
$3 million award will help at-risk children

By Cindy Murphy-Tofig

A recent $3 million award from The Zeist Foundation will help Emory pediatricians improve outcomes for at-risk children in metro Atlanta and throughout Georgia.

The award will fund development of an urban health program in the Department of Pediatrics. Specifically, it will be used to:

• Provide technical assistance and grants for schools, community organizations, and health care providers to develop school-based clinics in their respective communities;

• Support an academic success coordinator for pediatrics to oversee Reach Out and Read, an early childhood literacy program conducted at Atlanta’s Whitefoord Elementary School clinic and the Grady Neighborhood Health Centers;

• Host conferences and workshops over the next five years to support integration and coordination of primary care activities throughout metro Atlanta.

The funding also will support collaborative efforts between the Department of Pediatrics and other urban health programs in conjunction with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and the Grady Health System. An Emory-Grady urban health initiative being developed to support all disciplines of medicine from primary to subspecialty care also has received a planning grant from the Woodruff Foundation.

The program will expand school-based health clinics throughout metro Atlanta and Georgia, as well as increase access to and improve delivery of pediatric primary care services for urban-based populations. The program also will advise community leaders and policy makers on the value of coordinated health services for preschool children.

“More than 300,000 of Georgia’s children are uninsured and as a result do not have a medical home and have very limited access to routine health care,” says Veda C. Johnson, assistant professor of pediatrics at Emory School of Medicine. “Emory’s urban health program will increase access to quality health care, enhance the delivery of primary health care services through a holistic and integrated approach, and improve the overall health of Georgia’s children.”

The Zeist Foundation, established in 1989, provides support to nonprofit organizations with priority given to education, children and youth, community building, health, the arts, environment and wildlife.