Nemours Pediatrics Celebrates 15th Anniversary, Providing'Medical Home' to Underserved Children

Wilmington, Delaware
Tuesday, May 20, 2008 @ 04:50 PM EDT
by: Alison Burris (302) 651-6396 email: aburris@nemours.org

Wilmington, DE – Fifteen years ago, Nemours established its first stand-alone pediatric practice in Delaware, to provide healthcare to underserved areas throughout the state.

On Thursday, April 24, Nemours will hold a 15th anniversary event at 9:30 a.m. at the Nemours Pediatrics practice in Dover (102 W. Water St., Suite 1, Dover, DE). Governor Ruth Ann Minner and other dignitaries will be on hand to reflect on the past and outline Nemours vision of the future. There will be refreshments, entertainment and healthy living activities.

The event will highlight Delaware’s unique collaboration that provides children with accessible health care. In 1992, there were only 56 primary care doctors in Delaware and none in Wilmington. At the request of Governor Mike Castle, the Nemours Foundation established a private-public partnership to provide four primary care practices in underserved areas. Nemours operates the program at a loss, estimated at $4.2 million for all primary care locations in 2007, with Medicaid paying the majority of patient costs.

At the time, roughly 22,000 children in Delaware had no primary care doctor. Today there are 10 Nemours practices in Delaware, staffed by 28 doctors, six nurse practitioners and one physician's assistant, who treated approximately 44,000 children last year. The practices are located in:

• Georgetown
• Milford
• Seaford
• Dover
• Middletown
• People’s Plaza
• St. Francis
• Jessup Street
• Philadelphia Pike
• Foulk Road
• South Philadelphia (PA)
• Philadelphia (PA)
• Lankenau (PA)

In addition to the primary care locations, Nemours provides specialized children’s health care at partner locations in Philadelphia, Bryn Mawr and Newtown Square in Pennsylvania and Atlantic City and Voorhees in New Jersey.

The Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children

The Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children is a division of Nemours, which operates one of the nation’s largest health systems devoted to pediatric patient care, teaching and research. Set on a beautiful 300-acre campus near Wilmington, Delaware, the 180-bed duPont Hospital for Children offers all the specialties of pediatric medicine, surgery and dentistry.

Nemours is dedicated to achieving higher standards in children’s health. Nemours offers an integrated spectrum of clinical treatment coupled with research, advocacy, and educational health and prevention services extending to all families in the communities it serves. Starting with Alfred I. duPont’s bequest over seventy years ago, Nemours has grown into a multi-dimensional organization offering personalized clinical and preventive care focused on children. For more information, please visit Nemours.org.

modified: Monday, May 19, 2008 @ 04:49 PM EDT
created: Monday, May 19, 2008 @ 04:47 PM EDT

About Nemours

Nemours, one of the nation’s largest pediatric health systems, is dedicated to achieving higher standards in children’s health. Nemours offers an integrated spectrum of clinical treatment coupled with research, advocacy, and educational health and prevention services extending to all families in the communities it serves. Starting with Alfred I. duPont’s bequest over seventy years ago, Nemours has grown into a multi-dimensional organization offering personalized clinical and preventive care focused on children.

Nemours owns and operates the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware and major children’s specialty clinics in Delaware (Wilmington), Florida (Jacksonville, Orlando and Pensacola), Pennsylvania (Philadelphia and Bryn Mawr) and New Jersey (Atlantic City and Voorhees). Having recently received preliminary approval from the State of Florida, Nemours will establish a new full-service children’s hospital as part of an integrated pediatric health campus in Orlando. KidsHealth.org, the world’s most visited pediatric health care Web site for parents, kids and teens, is a project of Nemours.

Nemours employs over 4,400 individuals, including 430 pediatric physicians, specialists and surgeons who cared for approximately a quarter of a million children in 2007. The organization’s goal is to align with parents, physicians, community leaders, children’s advocates and elected officials to ensure optimal wellness for every child. Additional information about Nemours can be found at www.nemours.org.