Mayo Clinic Named Minnesota's State Lead Center of Excellence by Sarah Jane Brain Foundation

Friday, June 05, 2009

ROCHESTER, Minn. — The Mayo Clinic Brain Injury Program has been named the State Lead Center of Excellence by the Sarah Jane Brain Foundation, an advocacy group committed to developing a national pediatric acquired brain injury plan. The Sarah Jane Brain Project is a national plan to develop a seamless, standardized, evidence-based system of care universally accessible for all children/young adults and their families, regardless of where they live. Each State Lead Center will have certain, essential operating capabilities and will work with other health care institutions to develop and implement a statewide master plan.

"Brain injuries impact thousands of people across the country, and are the number one cause of morbidity and mortality for children and youth," says Sherilyn Driscoll, M.D., director of Mayo Clinic's Pediatric Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation program. "At Mayo Clinic we have many dedicated physicians, psychologists, nurses, and therapists with significant experience treating and caring for people with brain injuries. We look forward to working with our colleagues in the health care industry to help ensure high-quality, accessible care for children and adolescents suffering from brain injuries."

In January, advisory board members of the Sarah Jane Foundation met to draft a national pediatric acquired brain injury plan that called for the development of a national system of care for children and young adults with brain injuries. A committee of seven leading experts in the field of pediatric brain injury reviewed institutions and selected one institution in each of the 50 states to become the State Lead Center to implement the national pediatric acquired brain injury plan.

"We are so honored to have Mayo Clinic as the State Lead Center for Minnesota and as part of this national network of the best health care institutions in the country," says Patrick Donohue, founder of the Sarah Jane Brain Foundation. "It is shocking to realize that despite brain injury being the leading killer and disabler of our children, nothing has ever before been done to develop a nationally standardized medical or even an educational plan to address it, and there is very little public awareness of pediatric brain injury."

The Sarah Jane Brain Project started in October 2007 by Donohue and is named after his daughter who suffered a traumatic brain injury when she was just five days old. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports there are 2,685 deaths, 37,000 hospitalizations, and 435,000 emergency room visits attributable to traumatic brain injuries among children age 14 and under each year.

Read more information about Mayo Clinic's Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

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