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Show March of Dimes Pioneers Plan To Improve Child Medical Care - v N ( i v v" I r - . - sic ! ' V- lop-quahty medical care, though often capable ' of changing the whole life prospects of infants and children with crippling disorders, dis-orders, is unavailable to the majority of these patients. That is why The National Foundation-March of Dimes is pioneering with a project designed de-signed to remedy this situation by financing a network of more than 50 treatment centers across the nation for birth defects, de-fects, arthritis and polio. But fully twice this number of centers is needed because of the magnitude of the problem. This urgent need is one of the chief reasons for the current March of Dimes campaign here this month. "No other health organization organiza-tion in the United States, or for that matter not even the federal government, has attempted at-tempted any such comprehensive comprehen-sive network of special treatment treat-ment centers," Basil O'Connor, president of The National Foundation-March of Dimes, said recently. March of Dimes-financed treatment centers in great medical institutions insti-tutions like these care for hundreds of afflicted children. "We invested a great deal Gf study and thought in this project before we began in 1960 with the three pilot units patterned after our polio respiratory re-spiratory centers," he added. "But even with all this planning plan-ning and preparation which . included medical conferences across the country we did not foresee the full magnitude nor the urgency of the needs that these special treatment centers very soon brought to light. Some Headway Made "The thoughtful and compassionate com-passionate generosity of the American public has permitted the March of Dimes to make some headway in meeting the research and medical - care problems posed by 250,000 infants in-fants born each year in our country with major birth defects; de-fects; and the 42,000 children and adolescents crippled by some form of arthritis or rheumatic rheu-matic disease." These treatment centers for birth defects, arthritis and polio, whose costs are borne directly by about 500 March of Dimes chapters as well as national na-tional headquarters, are affiliated affili-ated with more than one-half of the medical schools m the United States. They are located lo-cated from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from the Canadian to the Mexican borders. 'Health Teams' Used Each provides continuous and comprehensive care for inpatients or outpatients by specialist members of "health teams." In the case of birth defects, this would often mean a pediatrician, a pediatric neurosurgeon, neu-rosurgeon, urologist, orthopedist, orthope-dist, physical therapist, medical social worker, psychologist or psychiatrist, and others. Similarly, Simi-larly, all of the special medical and other skills needed for the research study and the treat-1 ment of arthritis are enlisted in the "health teams" at the arthritis centers sponsored by the March of Dimes. These March of Dimes-financed Dimes-financed centers are the setting set-ting sometimes for family dramas dra-mas where emotions range from despair to jubilation. More than once have parents given up hope for their child only to find that early treatment treat-ment has made it possible for their youngster to escape seri ous disability or death. It is so often a matter of prompt action ac-tion and expert treatment that makes the difference. In a review of the progress in scarcely two years of these special treatment centers, Dr. ' William S. Clark, director of the medical department of The National Foundation-March of Dimes, reported: The Guiding Principle "What we have been achieving achiev-ing through our centers may seem breathtaking and miraculous mirac-ulous to some people. But the underlying principle involved here is really . very simple. It has been the guiding principle of The National Foundation-March Foundation-March of Dimes throughout its first quarter century,, the anniversary anni-versary of which we observe this month. It is this: "Do something to prove that the best care can be brought out of our great medical centers cen-ters and hospitals to America's doorstep in every town and village, and the American public, pub-lic, seeing that it can be done, will demand that it must be done. That's the March of Dimes in a nutshell." |
