Written by Tanya Terry, with photos by Tanya Terry
Insight Health Systems marked the opening of its Pediatric Neurology Department at Insight Flint May 5 with a ribbon cutting ceremony.
The new department will serve patients from birth to age 18. Each patient will have access to a behavioral health center, therapy centers, a state-of-the-art psychiatric hospital, a gym, youth empowerment programs and tutoring services.
“We believe that locally there is a tremendous gap of care when it comes to certain areas of pathology and treatments related to our young people, said Dr. Jawad Shah, neurosurgeon and president & CEO of Insight Health Systems.
He added: “Among those are problems that are neurological in nature. We believe that, in particular, Hurley Hospital has been doing a wonderful job in promoting neurological health through some of their programs. But we still see a large volume of patients that still need help.
“As an example, after the Flint water crisis, significant numbers of, children were exposed to lead in their heads. That led to certain changes that would lead to automatically certain pathologies. And we’re seeing autism at the rate of 6.7 to 7.3% in the community.
“Those kids, if they don’t get medical treatment, then teachers will not be able to deal with them and cause them to progress. So that’s one example of the need to be medical integration into taking care of youth.”
The new department is being led by Dr. Ateeq Haseeb, MD., who said he uses a holistic approach and treats every young person as his own child.
Haseeb shared that he believes the prevalence of those diagnosed with autism will continue to increase.
“There are very few autism specialists,” said Haseeb. “So being a certified autism specialist, I have that expertise. And having seen so many, so many autism children have starting to talk and improve their milestones, I think I could make a change in the life of many, many autism families…
“I’m also board certified for epilepsy and identifying seizures. And we’re going to do EEG monitoring-video EEG monitoring. Early identification of seizures is very critical because then it helps with improving the school function.
“I also specialize in behavior disorders and ADHD management. So, we’re going to focus on that, too.
“It’s a whole encompassing the neurobehavioral aspect of the children so they continue to get the education they deserve and they grow into responsible adults in the community.”
“As a father and as mayor, I understand how important it is for families to have access to trusted, specialized care for their children,” said Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley. “This new pediatric neurology center is a powerful example of what we can accomplish through strong partnerships and a shared commitment to our community’s well-being.
Rep. Cynthia Neeley stated: “I am deeply grateful to the leadership and health professionals at Insight, including Dr. Jawad Shah and Dr. Ateeq Haseeb and his team, for their expertise, partnership and steadfast commitment to excellence in serving our community. Flint is a city on the rise, and investments like this reflect that momentum and help carry our people forward.”
“I think that when you look at how Insight approaches health care and understanding that it’s not a single visit, it’s everything that wraps around a child: making sure that they have access to food, making sure that they are in a safe neighborhood, making sure things go well at school and then making sure every single health issue that they have gets addressed and it gets addressed in a timely way,” said Congresswoman Kristen McDonald Rivet. “That’s the model that we should think about for the entire country. And it’s right here in our community. And I’m really excited about it.”
Andrew Younger, executive director of the Flint & Genesee Chamber, stated: “What I see is that this is not only a place where people can get excellent care, but it’s yet another place where our talented professionals can find an opportunity to have a successful career, whether they’re coming right out of college, or whether there are people who are growing into these positions that they have there, or maybe even coming from other places and bringing their talents here to Flint and Genesee.
“When we see centers of excellence like this being established in Flint and Genesee, it’s good for all of us.”
Flint Pediatric Neurology is now open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 9 a.m. – 3:45 p.m. For an appointment or more information, call (810) 732-8336.
