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Philadelphia is becoming a hub for making high-quality sickle cell care and services more available to more patients in the mid-Atlantic region.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services tapped Thomas Jefferson University to oversee one of seven new regional coordinating hubs for sickle cell disease across the country that partner with local clinical centers and community-based organizations.
It’s part of an ongoing initiative and funding program aimed at improving health care outcomes and increasing access to high-level care.
“If you’re coming to a comprehensive high-quality center, your outcomes are going to be better than if you’re going to your local hematologist. And one of the issues is, you go to a place like Erie, Pennsylvania, and there is no comprehensive center,” said Dr. Sophie Lanzkron, division director of classical hematology at Thomas Jefferson University and a sickle cell disease specialist and researcher.
An estimated 100,000 people across the country live with sickle cell disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The disease disproportionately affects residents who are Black or of African descent. In Pennsylvania, nearly 4,000 people are affected, state data shows.
“Part of the work we’re doing is thinking about, how are we going to provide high-quality care to people who don’t live a mile from Jefferson or Penn [Medicine], which is another high-quality center, or University of Pittsburgh, another high-quality center? How are we going to do that?” Lanzkron asked.
