Mt. Sinai Emergency Medicine
Mount Sinai Medical Center has comprehensive adult and pediatric clinics that are dedicated exclusively to the care of patients with sickle cell disease. Approximately 300 adult patients rely on The Comprehensive Center for Sickle Cell Disease for their care. The Mount Sinai Sickle Cell Program's mission is to preserve and promote health, while maximizing quality of life. The program is directed by Dr. Caroline Cromwell. The program is also driven by a nurse practitioner, Jena Simon, who joined in February 2011 from The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore, where she cared for children and young adults with cancer and hematological disorders, including sickle cell disease; she is also board certified in pain management. The program also has a social worker, Meredith Ruden, who assists patients to obtain psychosocial and emotional support services as well as an Emergency Department physician, Dr. Jeffrey Glassberg, who insures that patients receive top quality care in the ED. Donna Lindie, the program’s Administrative Assistant, also plays a key role in helping coordinate patient care. The program also benefits from a close partnership with Mount Sinai’s Chronic Pain Service, where patients with complex pain issues can be seen.
The program is located in the Ruttenberg Treatment Center, where Dr. Cromwell, Ms. Simon, and Ms. Ruden see patients every Friday for outpatient care. Dr. Glassberg, from the Emergency Department, also attends clinic regularly to get to know patients in the outpatient setting. The program recently began offering monthly educational lectures to patients and members of the community.
The program also has a long legacy of advancing scientific research: Dr. Patricia Shi, the program’s past Director, received a grant while still at MSH with Michel Sadelain, MD/PhD from MSKCC from the Doris Duke Foundation in 2011 for the preclinical evaluation of globin gene transfer in mobilized sickle cell disease patient CD34+ cells and a grant from the FDA/NHLBI for the use of intravenous gammaglobulin for sickle cell pain crises. Dr. Glassberg received a K12 grant from NHLBI to study risk factors for increased ED utilization in sickle cell disease and is exploring the role of pulmonary comorbdities in individuals who have sickle cell disease. Ms. Simon and Dr. Cromwell recently presented a poster on a novel approach in treating intrahepatic cholestasis in sickle cell disease, a rare, but potentially life threatening condition. Dr. Cromwell and Glassberg are also co-investigators on a collaborative study (Expression of Proteins Involved in Vaso-Occlusion on Peripheral Blood Cells and in Plasma of Patients with Sickle Cell Anemia Compared to Normal Controls and Patients with B-Thalassemia) with Dr. Barry Coller, Physician in chief of Rockefeller University.
Mount Sinai also has a Pediatric Sickle Cell Clinic run by Dr. Anne Hurlet that follows ~130 patients. The transition from pediatric to adult clinics has become a key focus of the Pediatric Sickle Cell program. Dr. Glassberg practices as an attending physician in both the pediatric and adult EDs and plays a vital role in smoothing the transition for young adults as they graduate to the adult ED (at age 22) and the adult clinic. Dr. Glassberg’s presence in the EDs and the SCD clinic provides continuity of care that is unique to the MSH SCD programs and has reduced the number of adolescents lost to follow up during the adult transition process. Dr. Hurlet and the pediatric hematology team have delivered state-of-the-art care to children and young adults with Sickle Cell Disease for several decades. The Pediatric Sickle Cell Program is a comprehensive program designed to provide holistic care. Patients have access to social workers, genetic counselors, a dedicated cardiologist, pulmonologists, neurologists, and psychologists. Together with experienced Pediatric Intensive Care Unit staff the Pediatric Sickle Cell team treats the most life threatening complications such as stroke and acute chest syndrome. The philosophy of care calls for close collaboration with the pediatrician who is providing "well child care" to the patient. Visits to the Sickle Cell Clinic emphasize care of the sickle cell disease related complications and education. Children and their families have opportunities to participate in camp and other extracurricular activities. Parents and children learn how to access information about their disease through the library, the web, and group discussion. The adult Sickle Cell team actively partners with Dr. Anne Hurlet and her team in the pediatric sickle cell program to transition young adults to the adult service.
