TRENTON, NJ - Sixth District Congressman Frank Pallone and 12th District New Jersey Senator Jennifer Beck will be the very first public sector recipients of awards honoring the Garden State’s “champion’s of children” at the First New Jersey Children’s Ball, “Kids in the Spotlight … Broadway Sings,’’ to be held at 6 p.m., April 30, at Jasna Polana golf club in Princeton. The event is co-sponsored by the New Jersey Council of Children’s Hospitals, American Academy of Pediatrics, NJ Chapter, and the Pediatric Council on Research & Education (PCORE). Bipin Patel, M.D., Hillsborough resident and chair of pediatrics at The Children’s Hospital at Saint Peter’s University Hospital, will also be honored as a special physician champion.

 

“We could not have selected three more worthy honorees for our first event,” said Maureen McKee, Director of the New Jersey Council of Children’s Hospitals and co-chair of the Children’s Ball. “These individuals truly fit our criteria as ‘unfaltering advocates in the fight for the healthcare rights of children.’’’

 

Proceeds from The Children’s Ball will be used to enhance access to pediatric specialty care by implementing programs to attract needed pediatric subspecialties to New Jersey, as well as to support quality-improvement initiatives for community-based pediatric health care teams to strengthen medical homes for all of New Jersey’s children.

 

Congressman Frank Pallone has been on the front lines of the battles in Washington to protect children and expand health care accessibility for those who are having difficulty affording it.  During the previous Congress, as Chairman of the powerful Subcommittee on Health with jurisdiction over Medicaid, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Medicare, Congressman Pallone has led the fight for health care reform and providing greater access to care for children. Congressman Pallone has worked tirelessly for the past decade to expand the Children's Health Insurance Program and to defend it from Federal budget cuts. In New Jersey, this single program, which is known in our state as “Family Care,” has reduced the population of uninsured children by 43 percent. 

 

Senator Beck’s work on behalf of children has been nothing short of remarkable. She annually works on behalf of the “Little Soldiers” program, which provides gifts for children of military personnel posted overseas. She is a prime sponsor of the “Child Safe Playing Fields Act” which protects children by restricting the use of lawn care pesticides at schools, child care centers, and recreational fields. Senator Beck was one of the main sponsors of legislation signed into law by Governor Christie known as the “Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act,” which is designed to better prepare schools to deal with the act of bullying and its consequences. Senator Beck is a leader in efforts by the New Jersey Council of Teaching Hospitals to assure that there will be an adequate physician workforce in the future.

 

Dr. Patel’s pediatric career spans more than 35 years and he has established renowned pediatric programs at The Children’s Hospital at Saint Peter’s University Hospital. Over the course of his career he has fiercely and proudly worked to promote children’s services in New Jersey. Dr. Patel has developed one of New Jersey’s premier child-protection centers, the Dorothy B. Hersh Child Protection Center in New Brunswick, and he has a longstanding role as medical director at the New Jersey Institute for Disabilities/Cerebral Palsy Association of Middlesex County.

 

Two other physicians will be honored at the ball as Graduate Medical Education Champions:

 

·       Sara J. Little, MD – Chief Resident, Atlantic Health – Goryeb Children’s Hospital

·       Nicole Hraniotis, MD – Post Doctoral Fellow, RWJ Medical School/UMDNJ

 

About Sponsors:

          

NJ Council of Children’s Hospitals:  

The Council of Children’s Hospitals is dedicated to ensuring New Jersey’s Children have access to comprehensive pediatric community care models providing high quality pediatric clinical services and physicians. The nine pediatric acute care and two rehabilitation hospitals create a state-wide network of children’s services for New Jersey’s families. The Council’s goal is to ensure pediatricians and parents recognize the value and breadth of services provided by New Jersey’s children’s hospitals, through their unique community care models and best practices. www.njcth.org

          

The mission of the New Jersey Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics is the attainment of optimal health, safety and well-being of New Jersey’s children (infants, children, adolescents, young adults) and promotion of pediatricians (primary care pediatrician, pediatric medical subspecialists, pediatric surgical specialist) as the best qualified of all health professionals to provide child health care. The vision of the AAP/NJ is to be the leading authority, advocate and voice for the health of New Jersey’s children and for the profession of pediatrics. www.aapnj.org

 

The Pediatric Council on Research and Education (PCORE) is the charitable arm of the American Academy of Pediatrics/New Jersey Chapter (AAP/NJ) that is dedicated to improving the health and well-being of children in the state of New Jersey. PCORE’s mission is accomplished by working to improve health policies and practices, and to educate parents and primary care providers on preventative health topics within the context of a Medical Home framework. PCORE and its successful partnerships with local and state agencies help promote wellness and prevent illness, abuse and neglect among children of New Jersey. www.njpcore.org