HJNO Jan/Feb 2020

DIALOGUE 16 JAN / FEB 2020 I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS   center in the Gulf South region for children, providing quality care to children across Louisiana, and surrounding states. The Michael R. Boh Center for Child Development was made possible thanks to the incredible generosity of donors, includ- ing the Boh family. Local families and orga- nizations shared our vision, and understood the need to bring this approach and level of pediatric healthcare to children facing com- plex health challenges, and supported us as we brought it to life. Editor What is unique about the center? Seymour The Boh Center is unique in that it combines a wide range of services for chil- dren with neurodevelopmental and neu- romotor disorders all under one roof. This allows families to easily access the care needed for their children all in one place, by a team of highly trained professionals. Any parent of a child with special healthcare needs can tell you that managing appoint- ments can be extremely challenging. By bringing these services together, we’re not only alleviating some of this burden, we’re enhancing collaboration across each child’s care team. In addition to outpatient therapies, we offer a variety of multispecialty clinics for children with diagnoses such as Down syn- drome, cerebral palsy, Fragile X syndrome, and pediatric feeding and swallowing disor- ders. However, it is important to understand that the Boh Center programs are bigger than the walls in which they are conducted. A primary goal of the center is to collabo- rate with schools and other providers within our community to offer support, so that we are working together to allow children to maximize their potential in all areas of their life. We also work to provide parents and caregivers with the resources and education needed to continue helping their children progress at home. Editor  Can you share a breakdown of the number of patients seen at the center per month? Is there a waiting list for services? Seymour The Boh Center opened its doors in September 2018. Since that time, we have averaged 210 encounters per month. We have seen over 1,300 unique patients in the last calendar year. Due to the wide range of services provided through our program, there is a waiting list for some services and not for others. The current waiting list for a develop- mental/autism assessment is six to eight weeks. Prior to our opening, wait times for these services were up to six months. We are actively recruiting and adding to our staff in order to meet the significant demand we have experienced since open- ing our doors. Access to services has greatly improved since our opening, but our work is just beginning. We want tomake sure that each and every child in our community is able to receive treatment, and are contin- ually looking to grow our current services and identify new programs that would ben- efit our patients. Editor  Let’s talk Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). One in twenty children are now con- sidered on the spectrum. Are we seeing a change in those numbers? Seymour Yes, we are absolutely seeing an increase in the prevalence of Autism Spec- trum Disorder. I think this is due to a com- bination of factors. Due to the relentless work of autism advocates, our society is much more aware of the signs of autism. Parents and pediatricians canmore quickly identify when children may need a referral to a specialist for a developmental assess- ment. Unfortunately, we still have a long way to go to completely understand the etiol- ogy of the disorder. We know that genetic factors, in combination with environmen- tal triggers, play a role in the expression of the disorder across individuals. There are many genes that lead to the expression of RIGHT R ibbon Cutting for the Boh Center Opening BELOW Collab room- Thomas Harris, VP Pediatrics; Dr. Lacey Seymour, PhD; Sally Guidry, BCBA, LBA; Ashley Kenda, PT, DPT Dr. Lacey Seymour, PhD; Chrissy MacMaster, PT, DPT, PCS- physical therapist; and Tre Cotton