Fixing what ails care

Kids' center aims to boost access to cancer treatment

Gary Thompson/ViewDr. Jonathan Bernstein, founder of the Children?s Center for Cancer & Blood Diseases of Las Vegas, stands inside a room at the 3121 S. Maryland Parkway facility, Jan. 28. Gary Thompson/ViewClinical psychologist Jo Velesquez, left, plays with 2-year-old Logan Kern at the Children?s Center for Cancer & Blood Diseases of Las Vegas as Dr. Jonathan Bernstein watches, Jan. 28. Gary Thompson/ViewRegistered nurse Kendra Curfew mixes a chemotherapy treatment inside the pharmacy at the Children?s Center for Cancer & Blood Diseases of Las Vegas, Jan. 28. Advertisement

When children enter treatment at the Children's Center for Cancer & Blood Diseases of Las Vegas, they are greeted with a different approach to their health care:

Individual methodologies of treatment and attention by staff; a doctor offering his personal cell phone to families and accepting calls at all hours of the day; realistic and low-cost payment options for self-pay patients; and focus on the psychosocial state of the family, not just the patient.

For Dr. Jonathan Bernstein, founder, he mirrored his vision for the center by the example of pediatric medicine set by his father and brother.

"It's the way I always thought it worked," Bernstein said.

When faced with the health care barriers that exist, he decided to plow ahead on his own terms.

No child is to be deprived of care based on a family's inability to pay for services, he said, and cures and prevention for the catastrophic pediatric disease they face would be sought aggressively.

He opened the Children's Center for Cancer & Blood Diseases of Las Vegas in the fall of 2006. To date, more than 3,000 patients have been treated for childhood cancer and hematology and rheumatology issues.

And now, Bernstein is able to offer patients a new state-of-the art facility for the outpatient services offered by the center.

The center, which includes the Hemophilia Treatment Center, also under Bernstein's direction, moved into a new facility in December, located at 3121 S. Maryland Parkway, Suite 300.

The move added exam rooms, procedure rooms and a specialty infusion pharmacy. It also offered more space for the Hemophilia Treatment Center, the state's only federally funded hemophilia treatment clinic.

Bernstein and a team of professionals travel throughout the state several times a year treating bleeding and clotting disorder patients.

The team offers treatment and education to patients, family and local medical professionals at sites in cities such as Reno, Ely, Elko, Winnemucca and Owyhee.

"We are able to take care of the entire state even if they aren't at our doorstep," said Becki Berkowitz, hemophilia center nurse coordinator.

Bernstein also wanted to eliminate the barrier of distance for children diagnosed with cancer, as well. Before, it was not unusual for children from Nevada to travel hundreds of miles to Los Angeles, Phoenix or Salt Lake City for treatment. Children's Hospital Los Angeles, which is now a partner of the Children's Center for Cancer & Blood Diseases of Las Vegas, treated 565 children from Nevada in 2006 alone, said Annette Logan, president and executive director of the Cure 4 the Kids Foundation.

"What we're doing here is really visionary," she said.

But the most narrow scope of service is on the patient and his or her family.

Clinic nurse manager Wendy Dahl said each child leaves their mark.

"They become part of who I am as a person," she said. "When I go home at night, I feel like I really made a difference in their lives and their families' lives."

She recalled one toddler who was diagnosed with leukemia when he was about 1 year old. The boy was inconsolable and would thrash about and retreat to his blanket when he came for procedures. His mother and the staff didn't know what to do.

But they soon realized he would only calm when Dahl sat him on her lap during his chemotherapy.

"I know it sounds a little corny, but every time he's here and we do that, it makes me feel like I really changed that little boy's life," she said. "He goes from being inconsolable to coming and giving us hugs and kisses when he sees us."

The center teams with counselors and social workers to help parents and siblings through the process, as well.

"Everyone gets impacted by the diseases," Dahl said. "We offer what is really a network of support systems for the child, their parents and siblings, as well."

The outpatient center uses conscious sedation and sends children to area hospitals for more high-dose chemotherapy treatments.

Nick Knighton was assigned to a monthlong rotation at the center, and the fourth-year osteopathic medical student at Touro University said he was surprised how upbeat an environment Bernstein has built.

"It's surprising how many kids are happy to be here," he said. "Dr. Bernstein gets down and plays with the kids and makes them feel comfortable."

Katie Roberds, 22, receives follow-up care with Bernstein for eye and osteopathic cancers. She also works as a receptionist in the office.

"You don't have that special treatment at other places," she said.

The center currently is in the process of obtaining nonprofit status.

An open house to introduce the public to the new facility will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on March 4.

For more information about the Children's Center of Las Vegas, visit www.childrenscenteroflasvegas.com or call 732-0232.

Contact Centennial and Southeast View reporter Maggie Lillis at mlillis@viewnews.com or 477-3839.