Wayne Pediatrics launched medical services this week at the new 400 Mack Detroit Health Center in Midtown Detroit, offering an innovative Urban Children’s Health Collaborative designed to develop a healthier future for children and families through primary and specialty pediatric care.
The practice group will address and provide care for the specific needs of the children of Detroit, said Herman Gray, M.D., chair of the Wayne State University School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics.
"Wayne Pediatrics and the collaborative will reframe how children and families receive care and services within the context of the understanding of social determinants of health,” Dr. Gray said.
“This initiative will enable our faculty pediatric physicians to be more effective advocates, and help many more children live up to their fullest potential.”
The newly renovated 50,000-square-foot health care facility is also home to Wayne Health, which offers a full range of integrated primary, preventive and behavioral health care by physicians and advanced practice providers in internal medicine, family medicine, obstetrics and gynecology and behavioral health. The addition of Wayne Pediatrics allows the center to provide a broad spectrum of health care and specialty care for patients of all ages.
Wayne Pediatrics, through the Urban Children’s Health Collaborative, will address the social determinants that affect the health of Detroit’s children and their families, including issues such as poverty, housing and access to healthy food and transportation. The 400 Mack Detroit Health Center will also house social workers, psychologists and nutritionists to provide care and services to children and families facing health disparities. In addition, the pediatricians will develop a network of community service agencies to assist families.
Wayne Pediatrics and the collaborative will reframe how children and families receive care and services within the metropolitan Detroit community through fundamental systems evaluation and redesign – working with children and families, and collaborating with academic and community colleagues. Specialty pediatric care will be delivered within the context of the understanding that social determinants of health dramatically impact health outcomes. Primary care pediatricians and pediatric sub-specialists will work within an inter-disciplinary setting that will meaningfully address the comprehensive needs of the children and families they serve.
“The vision of the Urban Children’s Health Collaborative is a healthier future for metropolitan Detroit’s children and families through holistic, community-based primary and specialty pediatric care, medical education and training, and community- and population-based research to improve childhood health outcomes and prevent or mitigate adverse childhood experiences,” Dr. Gray said. “The collaborative’s focus on urban child and lifespan development will foster individual, family and community health and resilience. Four-hundred Mack Avenue will be the hub of this effort.”
Medical students and residents will learn and train in the pediatrics offices, incorporating community health and advocacy, Dr. Gray said. Students and trainees will receive firsthand experience seeing children in non-hospital settings, providing additional insight into the challenges faced by many Detroit families. Drawing upon the expertise of Wayne State University’s allied health sciences schools, undergraduate and graduate students in the fields of education, psychology, public health, social work, nursing and other fields will train and offer services to Detroit families alongside Wayne Pediatrics physicians. Research initiatives will focus on improving the public and economic health of urban and underserved populations.
“All children in Detroit deserve an equal opportunity to be healthy, ready to learn and to achieve their full potential,” Dr. Gray said. “A child’s ZIP code should not be the determining factor for future health. Pediatricians are, first and foremost, child advocates. This new initiative will enable Wayne Pediatrics faculty physicians to be more effective advocates, and will help many more children live up to their fullest potential.”
Mark Schweitzer, M.D., WSU vice president for Health Affairs and dean of the WSU School of Medicine, said Wayne Pediatrics will attract additional pediatricians to Detroit, critical to addressing the city’s shortage of pediatricians.
“Wayne Pediatrics and the collaborative will reframe how children and families receive care and services within the metropolitan Detroit community through fundamental systems evaluation and redesign – working with children and families, and collaborating with academic and community colleagues,” Dr. Schweitzer said. “Specialty pediatric care will be delivered within the context of the understanding that social determinants of health dramatically impact health outcomes. Primary care pediatricians and pediatric sub-specialists will work within an inter-disciplinary setting that will meaningfully address the comprehensive needs of the children and families we serve.”
To schedule an appointment with Wayne Pediatrics at the 400 Mack Detroit Health Center, call 313-448-9600. For more information about Wayne Pediatrics, visit https://www.waynepediatrics.org.
To schedule an appointment with a Wayne Health provider at the 400 Mack Health Center or another location, call 877 WAYNE-HC (877-929-6342).To learn more about Wayne Health, visit www.WayneHealthCares.org.