Patients that have been coping with serious health problems since childhood now have a health resource designed just for them at the University of Rochester’s “Medicine Complex Care Center” www.urmc.rochester.edu/primary-care/practices/complex-care-center.aspx designed as a primary care practice opened in March.
The Center is Rochester’s first primary care practice dedicated to caring for adults with chronic childhood-onset conditions such as cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anemia, childhood cancers, autism, and intellectual and developmental disabilities.
The Center offers specialized outpatient services to meet the needs of patients who often have multiple, severe conditions that require close management but who face disparities in accessing healthcare.
Patients who are older and need to leave a pediatric practice often have a combination of challenges moving to an adult primary care setting. They may have difficulty finding a provider and therefore sometimes lack reliable access to outpatient care.
The 2,500 square foot Complex Care Center with some differences is tailored to its patient population as providers and care managers treat fewer patients than in a traditional primary care practice.
The care team helps patients navigate the healthcare system to reduce preventable emergency department visits and hospitalizations. Also, Inpatient Consult Providers divide their clinical time between the Complex Care Center and the University of Rochester’s Medicine-affiliate hospitals. They also help patients and staff facilitate a smooth transition from hospital to home.
In addition to primary care, the practice now offers other essential services, including nutritional counseling, physical therapy, respiratory therapy, occupational therapy, plus a lab draw station. There are plans to add mental health services in the future.
Access to oral care is a significant unmet need especially for patients with intellectual and development disabilities simply because there are not enough dentists trained to treat these patients. The Eastman Institute for Oral Health www.urms.rochester.edu/dentistry.aspx will have three clinic rooms in the Center, equipped with handicap-accessible dental chairs to provide dental care to both adult and pediatric patients.