Jefferson Leads Fight Against Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis (JRA)

Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, with the aid of a $100,000 grant from the Heinz Family Foundation, is helping to launch the Heinz Family Foundation Children's Arthritis Network.

The Network is a consortium of healthcare providers across Pennsylvania who will offer medical, educational and social services programs to children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA). The Network was formed to provide care to children with arthritis, regardless of where they live or their ability to pay. Families living outside large metropolitan areas in Pennsylvania, who previously had difficulty accessing care for their children because of travel, financial constraints and limited facilities, will now be able to receive care within two hours of their homes.

In addition to Jefferson, which will serve as administrative and clinical hub of the Network, children can receive treatment at the John Heinz Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Hershey Medical Center, Lehigh Valley Hospital and St. Christopher's Hospital for Children.

Balu Athreya, MD, pediatric rheumatologist at Jefferson and A. I. duPont Hospital for Children and medical director of the Network, believes the resources made available through the new project will prove invaluable to the nearly 4,000 children in Pennsylvania with JRA. "As a result of the cooperation of the clinical centers involved in the project, children with JRA will receive community-based, coordinated care."

Counseling and support programs for children and their families will serve as important complements to the clinical services provided through the Network. "By forming parent groups and educational programming for healthcare providers and school districts, we hope to provide a close, well-rounded community-based system of care," explains Patty Rettig, RN, MSN, nurse practitioner in pediatric rheumatology at Jefferson and co-director of the Network.