The Georgia Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center at Grady Health System in Atlanta, Georgia

Center Description and Services

The Georgia Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center at Grady Health System is the world’s first 24 hour comprehensive primary care clinic for patients with sickle cell syndromes. The center is located on the ground floor within the new clinic wing of the Grady Hospital building at 80 Jesse Hill Jr. Drive (formerly Butler Street) in Atlanta. The clinic has exam areas, observation rooms, a waiting room, a multimedia teaching center, and office space for the center team of physicians, nurses, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, clinic assistants, social workers, psychologists, secretarial support and a psychiatric clinical nurse specialist. Take a pictorial tour of the new center by clicking here See a video of the Medical Director http://www.emory.edu/grady/impact_sicklecell_slideshow.htm

The mission of the center is to provide preventative comprehensive primary care to the sickle cell population in North West Georgia. 24 hour emergency care is available to non-pregnant, non-trauma, adults over age 16. Patients under 16 are seen in the Hughes Spaulding Children’s Hospital emergency facility directly across the street.

The clinic is a referral center for Georgia and clinicians may contact the center staff by 24 hour phone number (404)616-3572. Staff participate in clinical research to improve the care of all patients seeking new therapy and expanding the knowledge about the disease.

Services provided include:

24 hour Urgent Care for adults over 16

Appointment health maintenance care for adults and children

New patient evaluations

Patient counseling and sickle cell education

Inpatient consultations

Newborn screening and genetic counseling

Professional education - annual meetings and speakers

Research center for new treatments and pain management

Leg Ulcer Clinic and Hydrea Clinic

Chronic transfusion services

Support Groups for Teens, Parents and Adults

Transcranial Doppler (TCD) ultrasound testing for stroke prevention

Computer based education

Child Psychology testing and counseling

Adult Psychiatry services - stress management, family counseling

Transition clinic for Teens - Easing the transition from pediatric services to adulthood

STARS Clinic for transfusion therapy and stroke rehabilitation Click here

The SCELL  Patient and Parent Support Group Click here

The 24 hour urgent care is available to all patients over age 16. The center has a unique staff and design to fully evaluate sickle cell emergencies quickly and efficiently. The evaluation include examination by physicians and physician assistants or nurse practitioners trained in sickle cell disease. the therapy includes I.V. hydration and the latest in pain therapy including patient controlled analgesia pumps (PCA). Patients are allowed to rest in quiet and comfortable bed rooms with close observation. Patients advise the staff of their pain level using visual analog pain scales, if the patient is able to manage the pain at home, they are released with a 48 hour supply of oral pain medications. Patients who do not have adequate pain relief after 8 hours of treatment, are usually admitted for further inpatient treatment. The center’s pain protocol is successful 80% of the time allowing the patient to go home. 20% of emergency patients are admitted for prolonged pain or a sickle cell complication requiring inpatient therapy. The average length of stay, once admitted, is 5 days.

The Georgia Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center’s Psychological Services Team is comprised of a licensed psychologist, a pediatric psychology postdoctoral fellow, psychology interns, and graduate level psychology practicum students. The psychological services available to our pediatric patients include: individual and family psychotherapy; psychological evaluations for children experiencing developmental, learning, emotional, or behavioral problems; school advocacy to assure that the special needs of the child with sickle cell are adequately addressed within the school system; and neurocognitive evaluations for children following neurologic events (strokes) or prior to undergoing bone marrow or umbilical cord transplant surgeries. Speciality programs offered by psychology include: pain management and coping groups, psychoeducational programs for families of young children, and peer support groups for adolescents and young adults as they transition out of pediatric care. The Psychology Team is onsite to provide psychiatric consultations from referring hematologists during clinic visits. Outpatient psychiatric consultations and supportive psychotherapy services for hospitalized children and their families are also provided.

Streaming Video about the Sickle Cell Center (Get free Real Video Player Click Here) Meet the staff and patients of the Georgia Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center.

Pain Management in The Georgia Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center Part 1 Click Here: Play

Pain Management in The Georgia Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center Part 2 Click Here: Play

Patient Education in The Georgia Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center Click Here: Play

Sickle Cell March for the Cure Sept. 8 , 2002 Atlanta  17 min video Click Here: Play

Primary Care is provided by a multidisciplinary team from newborns to elderly sickle cell patients in the same center. The goal of this team is to keep the patient healthy , to prevent complications and to help the patient take charge of their disease. The staff provide primary care services such as immunizations, developmental screening, PPDs, and referrals for PAP smears, and eye examinations. Education is provided at many levels to encourage complication prevention and healthy living.

Awards

The Georgia Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center and Grady Health System in Atlanta win Award - The 2002 National Association of Public Hospitals http://www.naph.org/subsites/awards/IT_grady.html presented the year 2002 Safety
Net, Innovations in Technology Award for the research and development of a palm computer based pain assessment tool to help assess, document track and provide outcome analysis for pain. The Award was presented at the NAPH annual meeting
June 19-22 in San Diego, CA. 

The Georgia Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center at Grady Memorial Hospital
has been awarded the 2000 Innovations in Health Care: American
Association of Physician Assistants/Physician Assistants Foundation/Pfizer
Recognition Program.http://www.aapa.org/99innovations.html http://www.emory.edu/WHSC/HSNEWS/releases/apr01/SickleCellAward.html

Dr. James Eckman, Medical Director of the Sickle Cell Center and Professor of Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine, Winship Cancer Institute has won the National Association of Public Hospitals (NAPH at www.NAPH.org) 2000 Safety Net Distinguished Clinician Award.. This award is given to one clinician and health system in the nation each year that has help underserved populations served by safety net public hospitals. 

For his role in research shown to help prevent stroke in children
with sickle cell anemia, Emory University's Lewis L. Hsu, M.D.,
Ph.D., received the Health Advancement Award from
Community Health Charities of Georgia May 21, 1999 http://www.emory.edu/WHSC/HSNEWS/releases/july99/070799ccg.html

Appointments

To make an appointment with the sickle cell center team call (404) 616-3572. One time consultations for out-of State patient can be arranged by calling (404) 616 -5994.

Directions to the Sickle Cell Center at Grady Health System

The Sickle Cell Center is located in the new clinic building of Grady Memorial Hospital on the ground floor, Pratt Street entrance. Grady is located in downtown Atlanta, GA at 80 Jesse Hill Jr. Drive (formerly Butler Street). Next to the campus of Georgia State University. You can use Mapquest (click here) for door to door driving instructions to 80 Jesse Hill Jr Drive, Atlanta, GA. Mapquest also has nearby hotel information.

Traveling by car from: North Atlanta - Take I75or I85 South until they merge. Exit at Butler St. Go past Edgewood (light) and turn left onto Coca Cola Place. Turn right onto Pratt Street, right onto Decatur Street, right onto Jesse Hill (formerly Butler Street) and right into the visitors parking deck.

South Atlanta - Take I85 or I75 North until they merge. Exit at Edgwood Ave. Turn left onto Edgewood then left onto Jesse Hill (formerly Butler Street) at the light under the expressway bridge.Turn left onto Coca Cola Place. Turn right onto Pratt Street, right onto Decatur Street, right onto Jesse Hill (formerly Butler Street) and right into the visitors parking deck. East or West Atlanta - Travel in on I20 and exit on the I85-75 North exit. Follow directions above

For Travel by MARTA Rapid Rail from the airport or other locations: exit the train at the E-1 Georgia State Station. Exit the station on the Jesse Hill (formerly Butler Street) side, turn left and Grady is a two block walk. For train schedules and more information, visit the MARTA website (click here)

Travel Reservations

Nearest Hotels (Click on name for link)- Atlanta Marriott Marquis, Atlanta Hilton and Towers, Holiday Inn Select - Capitol Plaza, Sheraton Downtown Atlanta

Rand Mcnally - For airline, car and hotel reservations

Grady Heath System

Visit the Grady Health System web site to learn about Atlanta's Best Health Care Facility

Cost Effectiveness of Comprehensive Sickle Cell Care

The cost of providing comprehensive care in a setting such as the Sickle Cell Center at Grady may seem high, but the savings per patient in reduced admissions and reduced emergency visits is large.We tracked charge-cost data on 166 adult sickle cell patients present when the Comprehensive Center opened in 1985. These patients received care from the comprehensive team for 8 years when the charge data was reviewed. These patients remained active in the center as their primary care provider through out the 8 year period.

	ER Visits per patient
	Hospital Admissions per patient per year
	Cost per Patient per year for ER-Admission- Appt. Care only
	1985 vs. 1992 admissions vs. appointment visits per patient per year

Using the comprehensive specialty care model with 24 hour emergency service and a consistent multidisciplinary staff of dedicated clinicians, the following outcomes were obtained:

The overall net savings from the impact of good comprehensive specialty sickle cell care in the comprehensive center was $1.2 million per 100 patients per year. Sickle Cell Center is actively following 1000 patients for an estimated $12 million dollar savings for the patients and the state of Georgia.The cost of funding these specialty centers pays for itself in the tremendous cost savings.

Clinical Rotations and Visiting the Center

Clinical rotations for medical, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, and nursing students are available on a limited basis. Students will be have the opportunity to participate in both adult and pediatric settings, appointment and emergency care, inpatient and outpatient follow-up care. Students will have access to the multimedia center with excellent medical software and videos for review.

The Center staff are available to host visitors from other cities seeking to learn how to provide quality care to their sickle cell patients.

Please contact Allan Platt PA-C at (404) 616-5994 or aplatt@emory.edu for more information.

Speakers Resource for Sickle Cell and Other Related Topics

The Sickle Cell Center staff is available to provide professional education on the following topics:

Sickle Cell Disease, Pain Assessment, Pain Management, Transfusion Therapy, Stroke Prevention, Anemia, Infections, Hydroxyurea Therapy, Genetic Counseling, Multimedia Development, Patient Database Programming, Medical Web Publishing, Disease Management, Managed Care and Sickle Cell Disease, and many other topics.

Please contact Allan Platt PA-C at (404) 616-5994 or aplatt@emory.edu for more information.

Research and Projects in Atlanta - Atlanta Sickle Cell Consortium

Other Articles about the Sickle Cell Center

• 3/1/97 -- Multi-Media Center Opens at Grady
• 9/1/97 Discovery Helps Ease Pain of Sickle Cell Anemia by Alma Hill, Cox News Service
• Eckman makes sickle cell disease a top priority
• Ray of Hope in Your Health Magazine, Spring 1997
• Life Under the Sickle in EMORY Magazine, Spring 1994
• Stroke Prevention Study (STOP) Shows Great New Information,Sept. 1997
• Transfusions to Prevent Stroke in Sickle Cell So Successful, FDA Halts Trials, Sept 22, 1997
• Bone Marrow Transplantation at Emory - August 9,1996
• Bone Marrow Transplantation and other Sickle Cell Projects at Emory
• STARS CLINIC Opens 2/1/2000
• Emory to participate in nationwide study of stroke prevention in children with sickle cell disease 
• New Book on Sickle Cell Published by Sickle Cell Center Staff
• Sickle Cell Website For Children Launches, Becoming the First of Its Kind in the World
• New Pain Assessment Using Palm Pilot Technology Introduced to Help Sickle Cell Patients 
• New software helps track patients' pain
• Pain assessment now fits in  doctors' Palm
• Software improves quality of patient care
• Article on the Palm pain assessment system developed at the Georgia Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center
  
  

Send mail to aplatt@emory.edu with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 1997 Sickle Cell Information Center
Last modified: July 16, 2009