House Community Budget Issue Requests - Tracking Id #619 Northeast Florida Regional Pediatrics Diabetes Program at Wolfson Hospital
Requester:	Larry Freeman		Organization:		Wolfson Children's Hospital
Project Title:	Northeast Florida Regional Pediatrics Diabetes Program at Wolfson Hospital		Date Submitted:		01/26/2000 2:07:49 PM
District Member:	James Fuller		Service Area:		Regional
Counties Affected:	Baker, Clay, Duval, Flagler, Nassau, Putnam, St. Johns
Recipient:	Wolfson Children's Hospital		Contact:		Larry Freeman
	Prudential Drive		Contact Phone:		(904) 202-8731
	Jacksonville 32205
Project Description:
The mission of Wolfson Children's Hospital is to promote the health and well being of infants, children, and their families through the provision of excellence in clinical care, health education and research, and child advocacy. To fully meet the needs of the community ? and indeed the region ? requires a strong financial commitment. The cost to provide medical care to children is provided by insurance and through Medicaid (30-35% of admissions), which rarely reimburses the actual cost of the care. In addition, the hospital annually provides more than $6 million in uncompensated and charity care to children. A critical need for the hospital, and the region, is to further enhance the pediatric diabetes program. Insulin dependent diabetes mellitus is one of the most common chronic diseases of childhood. In the US alone, one (1) of every seven (7) dollars in health care expenditures go toward the treatment of diabetes and its complications, the majority of which are fully preventable. The recently completed Diabetes Care and Complications Trial has proven that tight control and treatment of diabetes significantly reduces the risk of long term complications from the disease. Management of diabetes on a daily basis is an enormous challenge to children and adolescents who are required to check their blood sugar levels before each meal and prior to bed time. If a child's symptoms become severe, an injection has to be given by trained parents or the school nurse to prevent or treat unconsciousness. Since children with diabetes will have the disease for their entire lives, it is clear that tight control is imperative from the very onset. Despite the continued emphasis on continuing education and treatment, the typical youngster usually encounters some emotionally challenging road blocks, such as denial of the condition, not fitting in with peers, deteriorating school grades, and moderate to severe depression. In many cases this results in non-compliance with the treatment protocol and increases the risk of developing complications. As the sole provider of pediatric diabetes in Northeast Florida region, Wolfson Children's hospital provides care to these children, regardless of their ability to pay.
Services Provided/Benefit to State:
The goal of the pediatric program is to both treat children with diabetes and also to prevent future illnesses, such as adolescent blindness, which is caused by is pediatric diabetes New technologies, such as insulin delivery pumps, continuous glucose monitoring equipment, and computer software that can transmit blood sugar directly from the home could greatly simplify and improve the interaction between the health care practitioners and patients. Unfortunately, the cost of the services is much greater than the insurance companies are willing to pay, necessitating the relative rationing of resources and care among the children. The hospital has great expertise with three (3) boarded pediatric endocrinologists, and nationally recognized psychological program for children with diabetes, and a Pediatric Diabetes Program which has been recognized nationally by the formal accreditation process of the American Diabetes Association as a center of excellence. The hospital currently provides care to more than 400 children with juvenile diabetes. Each year more children are diagnosed and receive treatment for diabetes -- a truly treatable childhood illness.
Measurable Outcome Anticipated:
The funds will complete the request from Wolfson Children's Hospital for its diabetes program so that it may continue to meet the needs of its community and to ensure that children with diabetes receive the proper medical care and attention that are required.
Amount requested from the State for this project this year:				$125,000
Total cost of the project:		$640,000

Request has been made to fund:			Operations
Is there Local Government or Private match for this request?					Yes
	Cash Amount:	$6,000,000
Was this project previously funded by the State?					Yes
	Fiscal Year:	1999-2000		Amount:	$1,000,000
Is future-year funding likely to be requested?					No
Was this project included in an Agency's Budget Request?					Unknown
Was this project included in the Governor's Recommended Budget?					Unknown
Is there a documented need for this project?					Unknown
Was this project request heard before a publicly noticed meeting of a body of elected officials (municipal, county, or state)?					Yes
	Hearing Body:	Duval Legsilative Delegation
	Meeting Date:	11/18/1999