Gov. Johanns announces partnership to retain poison center in Nebraska

Continuing an ongoing tradition of collaboration, the State of Nebraska has

partnered with Creighton University Medical Center, the University of Nebraska

Medical Center and Nebraska Health System to create a new poison center in Nebraska

– the Nebraska Regional Poison Center.

Nebraska Gov. Mike Johanns announced the partnership at a news conference at

the University of Nebraska Medical Center on July 10. He was joined by UNMC

Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D., NHS Chief Operating Officer Joe Graham, James

Armitage, M.D., dean of the UNMC College of Medicine, Creighton University President

the Rev. John P. Schlegel, S.J., Fred Salzinger, Creighton associate vice president

for health sciences, and Steven Seifert, M.D., a certified medical toxicologist

who will serve as medical director of the new poison center.

Dr. Seifert is an associate professor in UNMC’s department of pediatrics and

a clinical associate professor in the Creighton University department of pediatrics.

The Poison Center at Children’s Hospital has been solely funded and operated

by Children’s for the past 46 years. Last month, Children’s announced that rather

than answering the calls locally it would continue to fund a service where calls

would be outsourced to a large regional poison center starting Sept. 1.

Children’s has elected not to pursue this option. Instead, Children’s has agreed

to provide the space, equipment and database during the first 10 months of the

new center’s operation in order to ensure a seamless transition. The center

will remain at Children’s until an appropriate location is identified to move

the unit.

Under the new partnership, the state will provide $500,000 in funding to help

Creighton, UNMC and NHS administer a program similar to the one previously offered

by Children’s with the hope that it will eventually evolve into a service with

more broad-based functions.

The funding comes from a combination of two sources that have a connection

to poison centers – a bioterrorism grant from the Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention (CDC) and a hospital preparedness grant from the Health Resources

and Services Administration (HRSA). The CDC grant requires preparation for chemical

attacks, while the HRSA grant requires collaboration with a poison center.

Creighton, UNMC and NHS will attempt to identify additional funding to help

manage the program, which has an annual budget of $1.23 million.

The partnership extends the existing strong collaborations among the State,

Creighton University Medical Center, UNMC and NHS. Since 1997, the Nebraska

Health and Human Services System (HHSS) has consolidated the medical laboratory

testing functions of the state health lab with UNMC and NHS. In addition, over

the past two years, the state has worked closely with Creighton, UNMC and NHS

on a number of initiatives dealing with bioterrorism preparedness.

Gov. Johanns said the partnership is a "win-win for the entire state."

"The poison center provides a service that is beneficial to all our citizens,"

he said. "We are delighted it will remain in the state. Today’s announcement

is a terrific example of how our bioterrorism preparedness dollars and our bioterrorism

preparedness planning can be used both to meet the state’s broad public health

needs and ensure the infrastructure is in place to address an act of terrorism.

It adds another component to our already strong bioterrorism initiatives. I’m

thrilled that we could identify the funding to help Creighton, UNMC and NHS

make this happen."

"We are glad that we can direct $500,000 of our bioterrorism funding to

keep the poison center in Nebraska," said Richard Raymond, M.D., chief

medical officer for HHSS. "Collaborating with Creighton, UNMC and NHS to

make this happen just makes good sense and is consistent with our planning for

a response to bioterrorism or any other public health emergency."

The Nebraska Regional Poison Center will handle calls from Nebraska and Wyoming

as well as parts of five neighboring states. Based on the experience of The

Poison Center at Children’s Hospital, the new center expects to receive more

than 35,000 calls per year, with more than 25,000 of these calls concerning

human poisoning exposures.

Under the new partnership, the center’s phone number will remain the same –

(402) 955-5555 or toll-free (800) 222-1222.

"I’m delighted that a regional poison center will remain in Nebraska,"

Dr. Seifert said. "Many poison centers around the country started in children’s

hospitals, but over the years, the majority of centers have become state supported

and moved into academic settings. This change is right in line with what has

been going on nationally."

Dr. Maurer said the addition of the Nebraska Regional Poison Center is a "perfect

fit" for the Medical Center and Creighton. "From my time in Virginia

(prior to coming to UNMC), I saw first-hand what a valuable resource the poison

center is for a state. It will provide a multitude of opportunities for our

students, faculty and patients and allow us to better serve the state in our

mission of providing the best in education, research and patient care."

"Creighton University Medical Center collaborates with UNMC and NHS on

many fronts. Joining together in equal partnership to operate the Nebraska Regional

Poison Center in Omaha is one more example of how a public and private institution

can work side-by-side to better serve children, families, schools and public

health departments in our community, from across the state of Nebraska and in

surrounding states," Fr. Schlegel said. "Creighton physicians, researchers

and other health science professionals will lend their time and expertise to

help continue a valuable service that Children’s Hospital has provided for nearly

half a century."

Salzinger said, "Creighton is pleased to participate in the Nebraska Regional

Poison Center — not just for its value to our community, but also for the educational

and service opportunities it will provide for Creighton students."

Dr. Armitage praised Children’s Hospital for its past administration of the

poison center. "Children’s Hospital provided an extraordinary service to

the community over the past 46 years and should be acknowledged for that leadership,"

he said.

Dr. Armitage added that resident physicians in emergency medicine, internal

medicine and pediatrics will do regular rotations in the new poison center.

"Last year Nebraska Health System recorded 296 poison-related visits to

our emergency department," Graham said. "That volume speaks to the

need for a poison center in Nebraska where questions get answered, unnecessary

ER visits can be avoided and critically poisoned patients can find the best

possible care under Dr. Seifert’s direction."

"Poison Centers save money," Dr. Seifert said. "For every dollar

invested in a poison center, $7 in health care costs are saved. Three out of

four poison exposures can be safely managed at home. This saves Nebraskans nearly

$5 million in emergency department visits alone each year.

"More importantly, poison centers save lives. The Poison Information Specialists

are highly trained, nationally-certified, and know the capabilities and challenges

of our region. And a regional center here can provide bedside clinical consultations

to our most seriously poisoned patients."

In addition, Dr. Seifert will continue to use the poison center to conduct

research in a variety of areas. He has authored nearly 60 peer-reviewed medical

research articles and more than 50 medical book chapters. His research has included

pulmonary conditions related to agricultural work, and the human effects of

medications used in animal husbandry.

"Regional-specific research is another benefit of having a poison center

here," Dr. Seifert said.

"A poison center is an invaluable resource," Dr. Raymond said. "The

community education component is outstanding and provides families and schools

information on preventing accidental poisoning."

He said the sophisticated toll-free calling system uses highly trained, nationally

certified nurse specialists to respond to questions from the public about poisonous

substances and would be used for public education in a public health emergency.

HHSS is currently contracted with the poison center to back up and monitor the

state’s Health Alert Network (HAN) 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and immediately

notifying Dr. Raymond on all alerts.

HHSS also is currently contracted with the poison center to have a redundant

system that can send fax or e-mail messages at any time to all health-care providers,

local and district health departments, hospitals and community health centers

should an act of bioterrorism occur, such as last year’s anthrax scare.

-30-