National Jewish Health and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Announce Creation of Respiratory Institute

Nation’s leading respiratory hospital and renowned New York-based health care system develop joint venture to provide care and research focused on respiratory and related diseases.  
 

Today, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City and National Jewish Health, the nation’s leading respiratory hospital, based in Denver, Colorado, announced the formation of a joint venture to support differentiated care and research in respiratory and related diseases.  The new venture will be called the Mount Sinai-National Jewish Health Respiratory Institute. It is expected to open on the campus of the Icahn School of Medicine in July 2014.

One in four Americans suffer from a serious chronic or life threatening respiratory disease, from asthma to emphysema, lung cancer and cystic fibrosis. National Jewish Health is the leading and only institution dedicated to research and treatment of respiratory disease, treating both adults and children. The Icahn School of Medicine is ranked among the top medical schools in the United States and is the medical education and research hub for the entire Mount Sinai Health System, one of the country’s largest not-for-profit, multi-site health care systems in the country. In particular, the Catherine and Henry J. Gaisman Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at Mount Sinai has recently undergone a dramatic expansion of clinical and research activities, extending its world-class programs in diseases such as sarcoidosis and lung cancer. Together, the Icahn School of Medicine and National Jewish Health bring an extraordinary level of expertise in addressing complex respiratory illnesses.

“We have a long history of patients traveling to Denver from around the country, seeking the expertise and unique approach to respiratory care that we provide. Teaming up with a visionary health care organization – Mount Sinai and the Icahn School of Medicine – creates a collaborative environment that extends our organization’s ability to share our expertise and innovations for the benefit of many more patients in the New York region and beyond,” said Michael Salem, M.D., President and CEO of National Jewish Health.

“We are very excited to join in partnership with National Jewish Health in this endeavor,” said Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of the Icahn School of Medicine and President for Academic Affairs for the Mount Sinai Health System. “This agreement brings together two of the country’s finest medical institutions to work in partnership to advance respiratory care not only here in New York City, but throughout the country through collaborative partnerships in disease management , education and research.”

The Respiratory Institute will develop protocols for patient care, tailored to the Mount Sinai Health System, with an emphasis on the patient care experience for which National Jewish Health is world renowned. The new Respiratory Institute also will focus on innovative research, bringing together investigators from both institutions as well as extending the teaching programs of the Icahn School of Medicine and National Jewish Health.

 “Respiratory disease has reached epidemic proportions in New York City and around the country, particularly with the significant increase in asthma and asthma-related illnesses. We have to take critical steps forward to address these escalating problems,” said Charles A. Powell, MD, The Janice and Coleman Rabin Professor of Pulmonary Medicine, Chief of the Catherine and Henry J. Gaisman Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at Mount Sinai and CEO of the new Respiratory Institute.  “This partnership and the establishment of the Respiratory Institute moves us an important step closer in meeting the needs of our patients by providing multidisciplinary, outcomes-driven specialty programs that are based in a tradition of clinical and research excellence.”

“By combining the expertise available at both institutions, we will create a world-class Respiratory Institute that will advance respiratory health around the nation,” said Richard Martin, MD, Chair of Medicine at National Jewish Health.

About the Mount Sinai Health System
The Mount Sinai Health System is an integrated health system committed to providing distinguished care, conducting transformative research, and advancing biomedical education. Structured around seven member hospital campuses and a single medical school, the Health System has an extensive ambulatory network and a range of inpatient and outpatient services—from community-based facilities to tertiary and quaternary care.  The System includes approximately 6,600 primary and specialty care physicians, 12-minority-owned free-standing ambulatory surgery centers, over 45 ambulatory practices throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, and Long Island, as well as 31 affiliated community health centers. Physicians are affiliated with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, which is ranked among the top 20 medical schools both in National Institutes of Health funding and by U.S. News & World Report.

For more information, visit http://www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.   

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About National Jewish Health
National Jewish Health is the leading respiratory hospital in the nation. Founded 115 years ago as a nonprofit hospital, National Jewish Health today is the only facility in the world dedicated exclusively to groundbreaking medical research and treatment of patients with respiratory, cardiac, immune and related disorders. Patients and families come to National Jewish Health from around the world to receive cutting-edge, comprehensive and coordinated care.  To learn more, visit www.njhealth.org.