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NUMC PAVES PATH TO EDUCATIONAL SUCCESS FOR NASSAU COUNTY CHILDREN: PEDIATRIC DEPARTMENT ESTABLISHES REACH OUT AND READ PROGRAM (ROR)

Victor F. Politi, MD, FACP, FACEP                                                                           

President/CEO                                                                                               


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 13, 2014

 

PRESS CONTACT:

Shelley Lotenberg

shelley@numc.edu

516-572-6055

 

NUMC Paves Path to Educational Success for Nassau County Children: Pediatric Department Establishes Reach out and Read Program (ROR)

 

East Meadow, New York (August 13, 2014) – Victor F. Politi, MD, FACP, FACEP, NuHealth’s President/CEO, announces that the department of pediatrics at Nassau University Medical Center (NUMC) will host a ribbon cutting celebration at 5pm on August 13, 2014 in the NUMC pediatric clinic to launch the start of Reach Out and Read, a child literacy program where doctors counsel parents on early learning and reading aloud and hand out books to children 6 months to 5 years of age during regular office visits.

 

“Multiple studies have shown that children of families with access to Reach Out and Read programs enter kindergarten with substantially larger vocabularies and stronger language skills.  This strong foundation has proven critical to future success not only in literacy but consequently in health and economic sufficiency throughout adulthood,” stated Dr. Politi.  The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recently issued a formal statement that “reading regularly with young children stimulates optimal patterns of brain development and strengthens parent-child relationships at a critical time in child development, which in turn builds language, literacy and social-emotional development skills that last a lifetime”, and that pediatric providers have a “unique opportunity” to encourage this activity “beginning in infancy.”

 

Thanks to funds raised by the East Meadow Chamber of Commerce, as well as First Book Long Island and Dr. and Mrs. Frank Saracino, NUMC is now able to launch their own ROR program.  Steve Haller, President of the East Meadow Chamber of Commerce sees this as an important and effective way to invest in the community. Children from low-income families are at a significant learning disadvantage, even prior to pre-school, due to fewer literacy resources within the home and lesser parental awareness of the importance of reading aloud.  

 

ROR has been long supported and advocated for by Dr. David Fagan, Chairman of Pediatrics at NUMC, “This is an exciting and promising adaptation and recognition of the importance of literacy and preventive care in the pediatric community.” Dr. David Fagan.  Dr. Dina Lieser, Director of Community Pediatrics at NUMC, and Chair of the National Council on Early Childhood of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the council that released the policy statement on early literacy shares, said: “We will now be able to reach and affect our children at the most important formative moments of brain development, when the most promising outcomes are possible.” Dr. Dina Lieser, Carla Vultaggio, RN at NUMC and Linda Walsh, NUMC Volunteer Coordinator, have played key roles in championing this effort. Carla Vultaggio notes: “We will be able to enhance the services we provide our youngest children and better their experience from the moment they arrive in our waiting room.” Terry Rein, RN who sees the immense value in this after serving as a nurse at NUMC will function as Volunteer Program Coordinator for this effort.

 

ABOUT NUHEALTH
NuHealth is a Long Island health care organization delivering essential medical care and disease and lifestyle management to everyone at every stage of life.  Also known as Nassau Health Care Corporation, NuHealth is a public benefit corporation managing the operations of Nassau Medical Center, A. Holly Patterson Extended Care and a network of Family Health Centers that bring primary and specialty care out into the community.  By emphasizing wellness, cultural sensitivity and collaborative efforts with the North Shore-LIJ Health System, NuHealth is working to make good care more affordable and easier to access.

For more information about NuHealth or its Centers of Care, visit www.nuhealth.net.