Hasbro Children’s Hospital Named State Lead Center Focused on Traumatic Brain Injury
(posted June 5, 2009)
Hasbro Children’s Hospital has been named the State Lead Center for Rhode Island as part of a national network of health care institutions in what is being called the largest collaborative effort in the history of medicine.
The 51 other institutions and Hasbro Children’s Hospital will work together to address the number one cause of death and disability for children and young adults in the United States - brain injury.
“Hasbro Children’s Hospital’s Child Safe program is dedicated to caring for victims of child abuse,” said Carole Jenny, MD, director of the Child Safe program. “We see 1,700 abused children each year, and work hard to educate parents of the dangers of abuse, and to protect the children from further harm. By working with health care institutions throughout the country, we will be able to further educate parents about the dangers of shaken baby syndrome and traumatic brain injury, the number one cause of injury death and disability in babies and young children.”
In January of this year, more than 60 of the top pediatric neurologists in the country came together in New York City and drafted the first-ever National Pediatric Acquired Brain Injury (PABI) Plan, which called for the development of a national system of collaboration to address the issue.
The Sarah Jane Brain Project held an open application period in March for children’s hospitals, research universities and other health care organizations to apply to be the State Lead Centers in their respective states to implement the National PABI Plan.
A selection committee of seven well-known brain scientists and rehabilitation experts across the country reviewed the applications and selected one institution in every state, plus one each in the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, as the institution most capable of being the State Lead Center for their state.Hasbro Children’s Hospital was selected as the State Lead Center for Rhode Island, which the Sarah Jane Brain Project’s National Advisory Board is announcing along with the other 51 State Lead Centers in Washington, D.C. on June 5.
As the State Lead Center, Hasbro Children’s Hospital will be responsible for developing the master plan of care for children/young adults with brain injuries for the entire state.
“We are so honored to have Hasbro Children’s Hospital as the State Lead Center for Rhode Island and as part of this national network of the best health care institutions in the country,” stated SJBP founder Patrick Donohue.
He added, “It is shocking to realize that despite brain injury being the leading killer and disabler of our children, nothing has ever before been done to develop a nationally standardized medical or even an educational plan to address it, and there is very little public awareness exists of pediatric brain injury.”
Donohue started the SJBP in October 2007 after his daughter Sarah Jane was shaken by her baby nurse, causing a severe brain injury.
The National PABI Plan is estimated to cost $125 million annually to implement across the country and will address each of the seven categories of care for each aspect of brain injury treatment - prevention, acute care, rehabilitation, adult transition, rural/telehealth, mild TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury), and the virtual center.
Hasbro Children’s Hospital was further designated as the Regional Lead Center for Virtual Care, responsible for leading all the other states in the Northeast in that field.
“As the Virtual Care Center for the Northeast region, Hasbro Children’s Hospital will be responsible for maintaining family registries, electronic medical records and health care information technology for the region,” said Dr. Jenny. “Each hospital in the region will focus on a different area, allowing us to hone our skills in one discipline.”