The Federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has awarded Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center a grant of $86,495 per year for three years to support expansion of the Pediatric Enhanced Care Program, which serves children with chronic illnesses who require special services, into five rural counties near Winston-Salem.
The grant was one of 20 awarded by the HRSA to improve the system of services available to children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN). Wake Forest Baptist was the only North Carolina institution among the recipients.
The grant was part of a new HRSA funding initiative to support models of care that are evidence-based and can be spread to other communities.
Wake Forest Baptist will use the funds to provide coordination of care for children from Davie, Stokes, Surry, Wilkes and Yadkin counties who have complex medical conditions that require care from multiple doctors, special devices in their bodies and multiple medications, said Savithri Nageswaran, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor of pediatrics, social sciences and health policy at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and medical director of Pediatric Enhanced Care Program.
The community-based program in the five counties will mirror the services provided by the existing HRSA-funded program that assists children from Forsyth County. It also will serve as a model for programs in other parts of the country.
“Since these children receive care from multiple doctors and agencies, it is very difficult for families to coordinate their care, and the families need a lot of assistance,” Nageswaran said. “This grant will help our team in the hospital take advantage of the strong community collaborations we have established and work with multiple partners, including primary-care physicians, in the five counties to help these children and their families.”
HRSA, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the primary federal agency responsible for improving access to health care services for people who are uninsured, isolated or medically vulnerable.
Media Relations
Chad Campbell: news@wakehealth.edu, 336-713-4587