• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

May Institute Launches Pediatric Specialty Center in Santa Clara County

Posted on: Thursday, 15 January 2009, 05:57 CST

Ribbon-Cutting Celebration Honors Cadence Design Systems for $1.045M Donation

SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan. 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Thanks to funding provided by Cadence Design Systems, Inc., and support from a coalition of community partners, children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and other special needs in Santa Clara County will have access to critical services at a new pediatric specialty center that will open its doors today.

The Pediatric Specialty Center is a program of May Institute, a national network of educational, rehabilitative, and behavioral healthcare services. It will provide outpatient evaluation, diagnosis, and evidence-based treatment services to children and their families with ASD and other developmental and learning disabilities, social-emotional and behavioral issues, and complex medical conditions.

"We would like to thank Cadence, its employees, and its more than 170 business partners for helping us transform this Center from a dream into a reality with more than a million dollars of funding," said Heidi Howard, M.P.A., Chief of Business Development for the Institute. "We are also grateful to the Silicon Valley Children's Hospital Foundation and Good Samaritan Hospital, our community partners, for their strong support."

The Silicon Valley Children's Hospital Foundation has committed its efforts to raising funds for the Center's clinical operations, and Good Samaritan Hospital has made a major capital gift through its donation of space.

"The need for a pediatric center like this in Santa Clara County is great, and the positive impact it can have on the lives of children with these types of developmental disabilities is even greater," said Craig Johnson, Corporate Vice President of Cadence Design Systems. "Cadence is delighted to have been able to rally the corporate community to support this important project."

The Center's most recent philanthropic gift comes through two grants from the Valley Foundation in Los Gatos. A challenge grant of $100,000 will help further diversify financial support for the Center. An outright grant for an additional $100,000 will primarily underwrite the Center's diagnostic and treatment services for lower income households in Santa Clara County.

Services offered through the Center will include:

• diagnosis, assessment, and evaluation;
• intensive home-based services and parent training;
• child and family support, including therapy and social skills groups; and
• specialized school consultation.

According to the Center's Clinical Director Eleanor Castillo Sumi, Ph.D., services will be offered at the point of need -- in families' homes, children's schools, or at the Center. "We will also be making referrals to medical specialists in the community," she added.

"As a leader in the field, May Institute will help the Silicon Valley and nearby communities quickly expand and refine the best practices that have been shown to dramatically improve the outcomes for children with developmental disorders," said Michael K. O'Farrell, retired Vice President, Applied Materials, Inc., and father of a child with autism. "The Center will also help knit together a much more capable and integrated continuum of services throughout the community."

The May Institute Pediatric Specialty Center is located at 393 Blossom Hill Road, Suite 201, in San Jose. For more information, or to schedule an appointment, call 408-629-3050, or e-mail info@mayinstitute.org.

About May Institute

May Institute is a nonprofit organization that provides educational, rehabilitative, and behavioral healthcare services to individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and other developmental disabilities, brain injury, mental illness, and behavioral healthcare needs. The Institute also provides training and consultation services to professionals, organizations, and public school systems.

Since its founding more than 50 years ago, May Institute has evolved into an award-winning national network that serves over 25,000 individuals and their families annually at more than 200 service locations.

The Institute operates four nonpublic schools for children with ASD and other developmental disabilities; a fifth school services students with brain injury. An active center of research and training, the Institute maintains affiliations with more than 55 universities, hospitals and human service agencies worldwide. For more information about May Institute, go to www.mayinstitute.org.

About Cadence

Cadence Design Systems (Nasdaq: CDNS) enables global electronic-design innovation and plays an essential role in the creation of today's integrated circuits and electronics. Customers use Cadence software and hardware, methodologies, and services to design and verify advanced semiconductors, consumer electronics, networking and telecommunications equipment, and computer systems. Cadence reported 2007 revenues of approximately $1.6 billion, and has approximately 5,300 employees. The company is headquartered in San Jose, Calif., with sales offices, design centers, and research facilities around the world to serve the global electronics industry. More information about the company, its products, and services is available at www.cadence.com.

About Silicon Valley Children's Hospital Foundation

The Silicon Valley Children's Hospital Foundation (SVCHF) was created to address the fragmentation of pediatric healthcare services in San Jose. With initial seed money from Applied Materials and other individual supporters, SVCHF now includes a wide range of concerned community leaders and more than 100 pediatricians and pediatric sub-specialists from South Bay areas including Gilroy, Morgan Hill, Saratoga, Los Gatos and San Jose who seek to improve access to pediatric healthcare services. For more information about SVCHF, go to www.svch.org.

About Good Samaritan Hospital

Good Samaritan Hospital is recognized for acute and tertiary services, including cardiology, cardiovascular surgery, oncology, obstetrics and gynecology, Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, behavioral health and specialized surgery. Good Sam was one of the first five hospitals in the country certified by the Joint Commission as a Primary Stroke Center. The hospital received the Outstanding Achievement Award from the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer. More information about the hospital is available at www.goodsamsanjose.com.

SOURCE May Institute

Source: PR Newswire

More News in this Category