Durham's Partnership for Children launches Docs For Tots NC 

Nearly 50 people from the medical community, attended Durham's Partnership for Children's kick-off celebration on Oct. 25 to formally announce Docs For Tots NC, a program that will link the medical community, primarly pediatricians and residents working with the Duke Pediatric Residency 

Pictured from left: Stephanie Fanjul, President of North Carolina Partnership for Children; Dr. George Askew, Founder of Docs For Tots; Marsha R. Basloe, Executive Director, Durham's Partnership for Children; Michael Palmer, Board Chair, Durham's Partnership for Children; Dr. Betty Staples, Associate Director Duke Pediatric Residency Program; Steve Shore, Executive Director of North Carolina Pediatric Society.

Program at Duke Children's Hospital and Health Center, with easy community opportunities to engage the public around issues that affect young children.

Docs For Tots NC is a state affiliate of the National Washington, D.C.-based Docs For Tots initiative.

By offering ways physicians can inform parents and early childhood educators about important health topics that affect young children ages birth to five, the program's aim is  build more awareness for the health needs of children, while giving families that need help most more access to resources. It will also support physicians to continue to look at children's health more dimensionally -- looking at what factors at home and in the child care center impact infant, toddler and preschooler health.

 “Docs For Tots is vital to changing the nature of professionalism for children’s doctors through increasing their civic engagement beyond clinical practice walls,” said Durham’s Partnership for Children Executive Director Marsha Basloe. “To continue to build upon our work to ensure that children ages birth to 5, are healthy and ready for success in school and life, The Partnership is working with the medical community to pair medical information with early care and education, family support and child development topics for families with young children.”

The program is timely as Durham County is facing growing needs. In Durham County, 22 percent of young children ages birth to five live significantly below the poverty line. What's more, According to North Carolina Health Report Card, co-published by Action for Children and NC Institute for Medicine, health services have slipped in the past five years for our state's youngest children as one in four children are arriving to kindergarten with dental decay and fewer children have access to health coverage.

“This program will be an important component to community outreach for the Duke University Pediatric Residency Program,” said Dr. Betty Staples, associate program director for the Duke Pediatric Residency Training Program. During 2008, the residency program will link physicians to activities in area child care centers, community organizations and civic groups to address health care topics that affect young children and their families.

With the support of leading local physicians, Durham’s Partnership for Children anticipates the program will offer more opportunities for families with young children to access preventive health care, which includes health check-ups and immunizations.

“Docs for Tots will provide, tangible, meaningful ways for physicians in the City of Medicine to support early childhood initiatives that influence the overall health of our young children,” said Dr. Victor Dzau, Chancellor for Health Affairs, Duke University and President and CEO of Duke University Health System.

During the event, Docs For Tots Founder Dr. George Askew, delivered the keynote address. He said his experience working as a pediatrician in Boston 10 years ago became increasingly frustrating. He could mend bumps and bruises and administer medicine, but he couldn't change other global conditiions that directly affected children's wellbeing, such as inadequate, unsafe housing, disparities in health and development outcomes due to race, ethnicity or socio-economic status, and inablility to access affordable, quality early care and education.

"I had this kernel of an idea that doctors could step out of their white coats and work in a network to build awareness for and change these conditions for young children---Docs For Tots was born," Dr. Askew said.