MetroHealth Moves Autism Assessment Clinic to Parma
Parma - The MetroHealth System is moving its Autism Assessment Clinic (MAAC) from main campus to MetroHealth Parma Medical Center to meet the growing need for autism treatment and diagnostic services.
In Ohio, the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders has doubled since 2000. National data suggest one in 54 children have an autism spectrum disorder. In Cuyahoga County, 42% of children who have behavioral or mental health diagnoses do not receive treatment.
The new site at the Parma Medical Center will allow the clinic to support an additional 398 appointments per month, increasing the capacity to 507 monthly appointments. To accommodate the expected increase in appointments and the growing need for care, MetroHealth has also hired additional employees.
MetroHealth will offer a variety of appointments including developmental assessments, neuropsychological evaluations from infancy to age 21, interdisciplinary autism diagnostic evaluations, speech-language evaluations for young children and teenagers, group counseling, feedback appointments and medical follow-ups. Autism evaluations for Hispanic patients whose primary language is Spanish are a particularly notable service offered as well.
Not only will this move decrease wait times for appointments, shifting visits from MetroHealth’s main campus to Parma will also support our transformation initiative. Significant donations to MAAC facilitated its expansion. A recent $250,000 gift from JoAnn and Bob Glick doubled the number of bilingual staff. The Elisabeth Severance Prentiss Foundation previously made a grant of $210,000 that allowed for the clinic’s initial expansion of bilingual staff and resources.
By continuing to develop MAAC, MetroHealth becomes the only hospital with a comprehensive developmental clinic on the West Side, the only Hispanic Autism Assessment Clinic in Ohio and the only multidisciplinary adult Autism diagnostic service in the area. Our goal is to continue to work toward providing the best care to vulnerable populations.
If you have any questions about the care your child will receive, please contact the MAAC team at MAAC@metrohealth.org, call 216-778-3745 or visit the website at metrohealth.org/autism.
Founded in 1837, MetroHealth is leading the way to a healthier you and a healthier community through service, teaching, discovery, and teamwork. Cuyahoga County’s public, safety-net hospital system, MetroHealth meets people where they are, providing care through five hospitals, four emergency departments and more than 20 health centers. Each day, our nearly 9,000 employees focus on providing our community with equitable healthcare — through patient-focused research, access to care, and support services — that seeks to eradicate health disparities rooted in systematic barriers. For more information, visit metrohealth.org.
