Newswise — Hackensack Meridian Children’s Health has launched a new program to connect patients around the world with expert pediatric epilepsy care provided by epilepsy specialists at Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital at Hackensack University Medical Center. The Pediatric Epilepsy International Program, led by pediatric neurologist and epileptologist Eric Ségal, MD, and pediatric neurosurgeon Luke Tomycz, MD, is an extension of the Hackensack Meridian Health’s Global Health initiative, which provides concierge services to patients who travel from other countries to receive treatment.
“To date, Dr. Ségal and Dr. Tomycz have collaborated to provide life-changing care for patients who have traveled from Wales, the United Kingdom and Morocco, and they have remotely consulted on many other cases, offering second opinions on complex epilepsy patients from the United Kingdom, Morocco, Ireland, Portugal, Ukraine, Bahrain, and Poland,” said Robert C. Garrett, FACHE, chief executive officer of Hackensack Meridian Health. “Through our new Pediatric Epilepsy International Program, our goal is to create a pathway for international patients and their families to access innovative epilepsy care.”
Hackensack Meridian Children’s Health has a history of innovation in pediatric epilepsy treatment. In 2021, Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital neurosurgeons implanted the first responsive neurostimulation device in the state in a pediatric patient to treat drug-resistant focal epilepsy. The hospital also has been involved in epilepsy research for decades and has a dedicated Pediatric Epilepsy Monitoring Unit staffed 24/7 by epilepsy experts. Pediatric epilepsy research includes Dr. Segal serving as principal investigator in a clinical trial for soticlestat, which inhibits an enzyme in the brain that can stimulate chemical messengers in the brain called neurotransmitters and increase the chances of having a seizure.
Other innovations within the Hackensack Meridian Health network include the expansion of care. Earlier this year the Dr. Robert H. Harris Neuroscience Treatment Center at Jersey Shore University Medical Center opened. The new nearly 10,000 square foot facility combines office and treatment space for adults and children with neurological conditions such as epilepsy. The center is part of the Hackensack Meridian HealthNeuroscience Institute, at the network’s three academic medical centers in New Jersey, Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, JFK University Medical Center in Edison, and Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune.
Other global efforts include a 2022 partnership with the Ministry of Health of Ecuador whose goal is to expand access to Hackensack Meridian Health network’s top-tier, high-quality programs in urology, robotic surgery, cardiology and maternal-fetal medicine, Hackensack Meridian Health. Services offered through Hackensack Meridian Health’s International Programs include:
- Assistance with the visa process
- Translation and interpreting services
- Scheduling and coordinating medical appointments
- Arranging travel and lodging logistics
- Dietary assistance
- Assistance with other needs that arise
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