Pediatric Asthma Clinic Offered at the University Osteopathic Medical Center

Contact: Tia Trivison, Mgr., Marketing & PR for Clinic Services, (740) 593-9572

ATHENS, Ohio (December 1, 2000) -- The University Osteopathic Medical Center (UOMC) Pediatric Department is providing a new service to the community -- a Pediatric Asthma Clinic -- for children and adolescents with respiratory illness.

The clinic is offered monthly on the 2nd Thursday of the month from 1 - 5 p.m. on the 3rd floor of Parks Hall in Athens. The clinic was designed to provide a multidisciplinary approach including the pediatrician, a nurse educator and other health professionals to assist parents in managing their children's health.

Karen Montgomery-Reagan, D.O., pediatrician at the UOMC, directs the clinic. Her goal is to treat children with asthma who are either difficult to diagnose or to manage. She evaluates each patient for factors that make asthma hard to control, then develops a treatment plan for that patient in conjunction with Jan Johnson, RN, nurse educator.

This team, Montgomery-Reagan and Johnson, work together to help families learn more about what may be causing or triggering asthma in their child and what they can do to control asthma.

"Our goal is to develop a treatment plan to prevent acute asthma episodes that may result in hospital admissions or Emergency Department visits through the use of the latest recommendations on medical control and environmental management and to help families deal with the potential stresses of asthma," said Dr. Montgomery-Reagan.

Jan adds, "My role is to provide ongoing education to families and children, including a home visit if that is called for or referral to a community agency that could potentially help financially, or in other ways. We want to provide all the support each family might require to care for their child and maintain health."

For more information or to make an appointment, please call the Pediatrics Department at 593-2444. To speak with Jan Johnson, R.N., call 593-9801 or 1-800-844-2654.