Best Community Program
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This award acknowledges an individual or organization that pioneers inspiring community programs that include people with disabilities thereby enriching community life. |
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Presented by: Pat Scherer, founder of the International Center of Deafness and the Arts
Nominees:
AbilityLinks
Anixter Center
Misericordia Heart of Mercy
Mt. Sinai Hospital
Shriners Hospital for Children
Winner: Mt Sinai Hospital
Accepted by: Dr. Gary Kauffman MD, Director of the Mt. Sinai Hospital Deaf Access Program and Teri Hedding, manager.
About the Deaf Access Program at Mt. Sinai Hospital
The Deaf Access Program, headquartered at Mount Sinai Hospital in Chicago, offers a comprehensive program that provides both medical and mental health services for deaf children and adults. The DAP is sensitive to both the language and culture of the deaf community, and is strengthened by a program manager who is deaf, in addition to three physicians fluent in American Sign Language, three staff interpreters, and three signing mental health therapists. The program serves as a national model, and has been approached by three other states to assist them in developing similar programs.