FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Office on Women’s Health
(202) 690-7650
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
ESTABLISHED THIRD GENERATION OF NATIONAL CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE IN WOMEN'S HEALTH
The Department of Health and Human Services has
announced the establishment of six new National Centers of Excellence in Women's Health,
the third generation of model centers that will provide integrated and comprehensive
women's health services to women across the country.
The Office on Women's Health in the Department of Health and Human Services has awarded $1
million for the development of six centers focusing on health care for minority women. The
National Centers of Excellence will be located at Harvard University in Boston,
Tulane/Xavier University in New Orleans, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of
Puerto Rico in San Juan, University of Washington, Seattle, and University of Wisconsin at
Madison.
"These new Centers of Excellence provide innovative, community-based solutions for
women seeking the finest comprehensive health care," said HHS Secretary Donna E.
Shalala. "They are part of our continuing commitment to improve health services for
women across the nation, and will broaden the number of academic institutions actively
engaged in women's health research programs."
Located at academic institutions, the centers will serve as "one-stop shopping"
models targeted to the unique health care needs of women. The National Centers of
Excellence will provide the following:
An integrated "one-stop shopping" model for
the delivery of clinical health care services to women with an emphasis on prevention and
early detection;
A multi-disciplinary research agenda on women's
health issues, fostering collaborations across academic departments and promoting
strategies to encourage women to participate in clinical research trials;
Coordination and linkage between clinical services in
academic centers and surrounding communities;
Educational programs and materials for the general
public and health care professionals on women's health, using cutting edge technologies
and tele-medicine approaches;
The integration of a women's health focus into
medical school curriculum;
A "Women in Academic Medicine Leadership
Plan" to foster the recruitment, retention, and promotion of women in academic
careers;
Networking within the community to form alliances
with business groups, consumer groups, scientific organizations and public policy leaders;
and
An evaluation plan to assess project outcomes and
effectiveness.
"This newest generation of centers will broaden
the reach of this already successful program," said Wanda Jones, Dr. P.H., director
of the Office of Women's Health. "Not only are we able to provide nationwide examples
of excellence in integrated women's health care, we are now able to provide models that
address the special health concerns of women in ethnically, racially and culturally
diverse communities."
This announcement brings to 18, the total number of centers being supported by the Office
of Women's Health.
In October 1996, the Office of Women's Health established the first six vanguard model
Centers: Allegheny University of the Health Sciences in Philadelphia, Pa., Magee-Women's
Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pa., Ohio State University Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio, the
University of California at San Francisco, the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia,
Pa., and Yale University in New Haven, Conn.
The second generation of Centers of Excellence, established in October 1997, include:
Boston University Medical Campus, Indiana University Medical Center, the University of
California at Los Angeles, the University of Maryland at Baltimore, the University of
Michigan Medical Center, and Wake Forest University/Bowman Gray School of Medicine in
Winston-Salem, N.C.
The Office on Women's Health in the Department of Health and Human Services provides
national leadership in advancing women's health in public policy, research, service
delivery and education. The office serves as a catalyst for developing national and
regional initiatives to improve women's health.
Note: HHS press releases are available on the
World Wide Web at: http://www.hhs.gov. |