Morristown Medical Center announces specialized center to treat high-risk pregnancies

MORRISTOWN, NJ (Morris County) – Women with high-risk pregnancies will now have vital access to experts in one location. Atlantic Health System’s Morristown Medical Center Tuesday announced a $2.5 million grant from the Dorothy B. Hersh Foundation to create the Hersh Fetal Diagnostic and Treatment Center at Morristown Medical Center.

The center will bring maternal fetal medicine patient care to the next level of excellence and meet a growing demand for services.

The new facility at 55 Madison Avenue will centralize patient care services, expand diagnostic capabilities, increase team member support and create a welcoming and comforting patient care environment. This comprehensive resource is for pregnant women whose babies have congenital anomalies or other fetal complications and provides access to multidisciplinary care by clinical experts whose sole focus is to keep both mother and baby healthy before, during and after birth.

“We are deeply grateful to the Dorothy B. Hersh Foundation for its extraordinary contributions and longstanding support,” said Trish O’Keefe, PhD, RN, President, Morristown Medical Center.” Together, we are building a state-of-the-art center for advanced care and treatment that will make a difference in the lives of so many high-risk moms and babies.”

Established in 2010, the existing practice has seen increased patient demand, especially over the last three years. The center follows 180 patients a year and makes referrals to Goryeb Children’s Hospital pediatric cardiology, neonatology, genetics, neurology, neurosurgery, surgery, urology, nephrology, orthopedics and craniofacial divisions for specialized care.

Many of the services and physicians are located in different areas of Goryeb Children’s Hospital and Morristown Medical Center, requiring expectant parents to make numerous appointments and navigate different facilities, adding more stress to an already stressful time.

The new Hersh Fetal Diagnostic and Treatment Center will be designed to make it easy and convenient for families to receive all their care in one location and ideally during one appointment. It is part of Goryeb’s commitment to patient- and family-centered medicine which addresses both the physical and emotional aspects of patient care, partnering with families along their journey and ensuring that they have coordinated access to pediatric experts for continuous care.

“This important contribution is a clear demonstration of the power of philanthropy to accelerate positive growth in health care  delivery, treatment and state-of-the-art equipment,” said Jennifer Smith, Chief Philanthropy Officer, Foundation for Morristown Medical Center. “The Dorothy B. Hersh Foundation’s generosity continues a long philanthropic legacy at Morristown Medical Center and there is no doubt that this gift will have a long-lasting impact on families and generations to come.”

Established in 1979, the Dorothy B. Hersh Foundation provides  grants for capital expenditures benefitting the needs of children throughout New Jersey and has supported crucial pediatric needs at both Morristown and Overlook Medical Centers for the past decade.

“I know Dorothy would be stunned, and so pleased that today – more than four decades after the foundation was established – thousands and thousands of children in New Jersey have the chance to be happy and healthy with happy and healthy parents,” said Harriet L. Donnelly, foundation administrator of the Dorothy B. Hersh Foundation. “Our mission is to improve the lives of children, one child at a time, and this effort is unique because we are taking a step back and helping children from the very beginning of their lives while they are still in the womb. The impact of this  contribution, I am sure, will make a difference in so many lives across the state.”