Inflammatory Bowel Disease
The Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) program at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore (CHAM) is dedicated to providing excellent care and improving the health and quality of life of patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), including Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). IBD are chronic relapsing inflammatory gastrointestinal diseases causing severe diarrhea abdominal pain and weight loss that can lead to life-threatening complications.
At CHAM we have a committed exceptional multidisciplinary team of physicians, surgeons, pathologists, radiologists, dieticians, nurse practitioners, nurses, social workers, and psychologists working together to provide state of the art quality care with the ultimate goal that all children with IBD should lead normal, productive lives.
Meet the Pediatric IBD Team
- Clinical Team
Director of IBD Program – Gitit Tomer MD
Nurse Practitioner – Gia Puopolo, NP
Nursing – Leslie Hoerst, RN
Nutrition- Irina Strogach MS, RD, CDN
Clinical Social Work- Porsha Paul, LMSW
- Administrator
Sandra Melendez
Quality and Inflammatory Bowel Disease
The Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore participates in a national Quality Improvement network, ImproveCareNow where clinicians, researchers, patients and families are working together to transform the health, care and cost of children and adolescents with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. A team-based approach to medical care is helping children and adolescents with Crohn's Disease and ulcerative colitis get well sooner and have better outcomes in terms of their disease and their quality of life.
- Patients’ Remission rate has increased from 50% to over 80%.
- Patients who are not taking Prednisone increased to 93%.
- Patients taking recommended thiopurines dose increased to 77%.
CHAM Pediatric IBD Remission Rate
We have been involved in continuous quality improvement projects including creating inflammatory bowel disease electronic medical record, pre-visit planning, medication adherence, improving visits within 200 days.
Education
All our IBD patients receive specific IBD educational materials regarding the diagnosis, coping with the disease, treatment of IBD and its complications, financial and school rights, and guidelines when to call and who to call. Patients meet with our dietician and social worker at diagnosis. In addition to educating our patients we also educate the next generation of IBD specialists. Our highly successful program provides a stimulating environment for the training of research and clinical staff, including medical students, residents and fellows from all healthcare professions.
Preparing for Your Visit
Please make sure that all required medical records are sent to the center before you come in for your appointment. Necessary information often includes:
- Clinic records and lab results
- Pathology reports and biopsy slides from previous endoscopic procedures
- Film and reports from any radiology testing (MRI, UGI w/sbft, etc.)
- Growth chart from the primary care physician
- List of medications
Please send this information to:
Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program
Children's Hospital at Montefiore
11 East 210ths street
Bronx NY 10467
Telephone 718-741-2332
Resources: