“Our University of Louisville has been working with partners in Tamale, Ghana, for the last 14 years,” said division chief of pediatric global health and Humana Endowed Chair in International Pediatrics. “When we learned that AMPATH would also begin working at the same hospital and medical school in Northern Ghana, our group was thrilled at the idea of partnering with a consortium which has such a strong track record of effective global health collaboration.”  

AMPATH is the Academic Model Providing Access to Health Care. UofL joins 14 other universities and medical schools around the world working in partnership with public sector hospitals and medical schools in Ghana, Kenya, Mexico and Nepal.

In Ghana, the partnership is led by (UDS-SoM) (TTH) and . The partnership launched in early 2019 with support provided to Indiana University from and .

As part of the AMPATH Ghana partnership, UofL will embrace the AMPATH philosophy to “Lead with Care” by continuing to provide pediatric clinical care that supports research and education in child health. This will include augmenting sub-specialty care in pediatrics, hosting two-way exchange of learners, initiating research grants focused on child health and broadening UofL’s institutional support with partners in Tamale, Ghana.

“The AMPATH Consortium welcomes the University of Louisville and we look forward to working together to both enhance their existing work in Ghana while learning from their expertise in international pediatrics to grow all of the AMPATH partnerships,” said Adrian Gardner, MD, MPH, executive director of the AMPATH Consortium.

“We are very excited to work with our colleagues at University of Louisville to grow pediatric medicine education, research and care in Tamale, Ghana,” said Professor Stephen Tabiri, MD, PhD, FGCS, FACS, FWACS, MEd (Adm.) dean of UDS-SoM.  “We are looking forward to a very fruitful partnership.” 

Dr. Adam Atiku, CEO of Tamale Teaching Hospital added, “We are looking forward to further collaborating with our colleagues from the University of Louisville, with whom we have had over a decade-long partnership, as they join the AMPATH Consortium to continue in our collective quest to improve pediatric and child healthcare to clients within northern Ghana and beyond. We are very excited to see what we can achieve together for children in northern Ghana.”

The AMPATH Ghana partnership is based on a collaborative model that has helped to build a sustainable healthcare system over the past three decades in western Kenya.

“AMPATH Ghana’s long-term partnership model presents a unique opportunity for University of Louisville faculty and trainees. We look forward to building relationships with our counterparts to strengthen pediatric care delivery in Tamale and northern Ghana,” Rajesh Vedanthan, MD, MPH, MS, director of the Section for Global Health at the Institute for Excellence in Health Equity and associate professor in the Department of Population Health at NYU Langone.

In April, UofL faculty and residents traveled to Ghana and stayed in the AMPATH Ghana House with full-time faculty from NYU Grossman School of Medicine while working and training alongside Ghanaian faculty and residents.

“That experience further solidified our strong desire to be a part of the AMPATH Consortium. Seeing first-hand the projects which have already been started, how well they are partnered with our colleagues in Ghana, and how smoothly they managed the logistics in Ghana sealed the deal for our plans to join AMPATH,” said Williams. 

The AMPATH Consortium is led by Indiana University and includes Brown University, Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin, Duke University, Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine, Linköping University (Sweden), Mount Sinai, NYU Langone Health, Purdue University, Stanford University Center for Innovation in Global Health, University of Alberta, University of California San Francisco, University of Toronto and the University of Virginia.

The division of pediatric global health at UofL was established as the international pediatrics division by George Rodgers, MD, more than 25 years ago with a partnership in Romania and other eastern European countries. The Humana Foundation generously provided funding for the division’s creation. Faculty in the division include Jackson Williams, MD; Nicole Bichir, MD; Sheridan Langford, MD; Bethany Hodge, MD, MPH (completed a rotation in AMPATH’s Kenya partnership in 2009); Dan Stewart, MD; Dan Blatt, MD; Mirzada Kurbasic, MD; and Kelly Frazier, MD. The division also has a partnership in Ecuador.

Since 1982, Kosair Charities has been a solidly dependable supporter of children’s health programs at the University of Louisville. This year, total donations have reached more than $50.4 million.

Moving the total past the $50 million mark this year is over $1 million in funding from the charity – the largest in Kentuckiana – to support programs in pediatric forensic medicine, neuro-recovery and cancer research, along with the Center for Women & Infants at UofL Hospital.

“Kosair Charities has made immeasurable contributions to the University of Louisville, this community and beyond. I believe what makes a partnership great is a shared vision. And that is certainly the case with Kosair Charities and UofL,” said UofL President Neeli Bendapudi. “Kosair Charities has given to so many areas across the University of Louisville, and the impact can be felt far and wide throughout our community, region and beyond.”

“Louisville is my home, UofL my school, and Kosair Charities is my passion. It is special to be able to pull it all together to help children move forward,” said Keith Inman, president of Kosair Charities. “For almost 100 years Kosair Charities has had one mission, one focus, and that is for children to overcome their obstacles and reach their full potential. For 38 of those years, the University of Louisville has been an important partner, as we have invested in research, programs, facilities and people at the university who can make that vision, that mission a reality.”

The support is as important to UofL for its consistency as much the dollars donated, said UofL Vice President for Advancement Jasmine Farrier.

“All philanthropic gifts are impactful, but this level of extraordinary support given consistently over decades is truly transformational,” Farrier said. “We are so fortunate to have Kosair Charities’ commitment to our children’s health programs.”

Recent gifts made by Kosair Charities to the university have helped fund:

• UofL Kosair Charities Division of Pediatric Forensic Medicine: Led by Dr. Melissa Currie, the first board-certified child abuse pediatrician in Kentucky, this division focuses on physical, mental and sexual abuse and neglect in children.
• Kosair Charities Center for Pediatric NeuroRecovery: The gift from Kosair Charities targets paralysis in children with acute flaccid myelitis (AFM), a disease that affects the area of the spinal cord called gray matter, causing the muscles and reflexes in the body to become weak. Although occurrences are relatively rare, cases of AFM have been on a steady increase since 2014.
• Kosair Charities UofL Brown Cancer Center Pediatric Cancer Research: Drawing upon the strengths of researchers and physicians in the UofL Health – Brown Cancer Center, this program applies immunotherapy – the use of the patient’s own immune system – to fight children’s cancer.
• UofL Hospital’s Center for Women & Infants: Kosair Charities funding enables the center to purchase upgraded infant warmers for its cutting-edge Neonatal Intensive Care Unit that cares for the tiniest and most vulnerable newborns.

“The support from the Crusade enables us to expand the breadth of general and specialty services we are able to provide to the children who come through our doors,” said UofL President Neeli Bendapudi, PhD. “All of us at UofL cannot thank the Crusade enough for its commitment to the next generation and their trust in UofL.”

Beginning in late June, nearly all the practices that see patients from infancy to mid-20s in some cases moved into the Novak Center for Children’s Health. This marks the first time that outpatient clinical care for these patients is concentrated in a single location. The Crusade has provided more than $475,000 in support of the facility, including $274,000 in this round of funding.

Because of support from the Crusade, UofL is closer to being able to purchase, equip and staff a van that will serve as a mobile asthma clinic.

“We have seen that if we are able to get into the neighborhoods and make it more convenient for parents and our patients, we have better results,” said Kim Boland, MD, interim chair of the UofL Department of Pediatrics. “This van will have a significant impact on our patients who have asthma and other respiratory ailments.”

The Crusade also provides valuable funding for what may seem like small things, such as basic supplies for a clinic, but they are essential to providing care to children. And this extends to support for hiring personnel.

“Through the support of the Crusade, we can hire specialized care staff that is critical to our delivery of the most complex care to children who have autism, learning disorders, cancer and other conditions and diseases,” said Dr. Greg Postel, UofL executive vice president for health affairs.

This year, the Crusade has helped fund positions in pediatric neurology, pediatric endocrinology, pediatric hematology/oncology and the Weissskopf Child Evaluation Center.

Through the years, the WHAS Crusade for Children has provided nearly $16.3 million to the University of Louisville. This support has enabled UofL to provide medical care to countless children.

The Novak Center for Children’s Health is scheduled to open to patients in July 2018. The eight-story, 176,000-square-foot building is the first new health care facility in the Louisville Medical Center in nearly a decade.

“David Novak and his family continually demonstrate their strong commitment to the well-being of the children of Kentucky and beyond,” said Gregory C. Postel, MD, interim president of the University of Louisville. “It is not just symbolic, but appropriate that one of the area’s premiere pediatric health care centers be named in their honor.”

In addition to financial support toward the construction of the Novak Center for Children’s Health, the Novak Family and the Lift-A-Life Foundation have been instrumental in the creation and growth of the Wendy Novak Diabetes Center, which will have its outpatient services based in the new facility.

“At the University of Louisville, and through its primary children’s partner in Norton Healthcare, we have some of the premiere health care providers in the nation,” Novak said. “We now will have the world-class outpatient facility to match the level of care our children receive.”

One of the significant advantages of the new facility will be the ability for patients to see all their childhood health providers in a single location. Currently, patients and their caregivers oftentimes must travel to multiple buildings in the medical center to see providers.

The story of and his family demonstrates the significant change the new facility will make in the lives of patients and their families and caregivers. Since 2006, he has been fighting a rare brain disorder that has required him seeing providers in hematology, ophthalmology, neurology and more.

“Everyone person who has helped provide for Noah through the years has been exceptional,” said Geneva Barone, Noah’s mother. “At times, it has been inconvenient having to go to the varying locations to see everyone. To have everyone in a single location, and knowing that we will not have to travel throughout the medical center is wonderful. While everyone makes us feel like family, to have a single location to visit will be like having a medical home.”

“We are building the future of pediatric health care right here in Louisville,” said Charles Woods, MD, interim chair of the UofL Department of Pediatrics. “This facility will enable us to transform how we deliver care by having our multidisciplinary teams located in one space so they can meet simultaneously with the patients and their families. This will eliminate substantial inconvenient delays and obstacles in our patients receiving the very best of care in the most time way possible.”

David Novak served as CEO of Louisville-based Yum! Brands from 1999 to 2016. He and his family established the Wendy Novak Diabetes Center in 2015. 

Check out video from the naming ceremony: 

Photo provided by .