National Jewish Medical and Research Center

National Jewish Medical and Research Center now known as National Jewish Health is a non-profit research institute, that has been providing its research and services in the field of respiratory disorders, cardiac disorders and immunity related disorders to every person in need. It is located in Denver, Colorado.

The dedicated staff and faculty at National Jewish Health believe in personal attention, focus, care and patience. It is with these qualities that they attend to each and every person who comes to them for a healthcare solution. This is the philosophy that the National Jewish Health has worked with and continues to do the same.

National Jewish Health is committed to changing the approach towards medicine from reactive to proactive. It has achieved this by expanding its services to various other areas in the medical field by providing advanced top-rated programs that address health as a whole. This is probably one of the reasons that set it apart from the rest.

Since National Jewish Health is a research oriented institute, it comes up with unique programs that can integrate path-breaking research findings and treatment. This is a huge benefit to the patients. Its interactive programs dedicated to bring reduction in smoking, those focused on losing weight and pediatric education of chronic illness patients are some of the well-known programs. Through these programs, a patient can get health care solutions over the phone or the internet.

National Jewish Health continues to contribute heavily towards charity. There are several programs whereby it provides various services to the needy, free of cost. Most of the money that is collected through donations in the institute is used for these charity oriented services.

Today, National Jewish Health is considered to be one of the leading medical and research institutes in the United States. With the help of advanced technology and medical progress, the services of the National Jewish Health do not pertain to the United States alone but also to many countries around the world.

Purpose

The motto of the National Jewish Health is "None may enter who can pay - none can pay who enter". This motto was coined by the first patient to the institute in 1899 and clearly signifies that charitable service that the institution offers to its patients from any walk of life and religion.

Today, the National Jewish Health still treats people with the same compassion. The dedicated staff and faculty of National Jewish Health believe that the relationship between a doctor and patient is a personal one. It is one of patience, love, kindness and understanding.

The uniqueness of the staff at National Jewish Health is that they sit with the patient for long periods to understand, monitor and make the patients feel comfortable. Perhaps the biggest success of National Jewish Health has been educating people (patients, professional and even public) about the diseases a person is suffering from.

They believe that when a person is aware of what he / she is suffering from, it makes them understand, cooperate and respond to the treatment better. The National Jewish Health has focused on children greatly and even come up with an innovative way of enabling a chronic illness ridden child, a normal life of free education.

The National Jewish Health is committed to discovering, studying, treating and even eradicating the causes of disease in the field of medicine through research. It incorporates unique programs whereby these findings are blended into the treatment of the patients. These programs not only focus on curing the patient but rehabilitation and education on preventive mechanisms.

The National Jewish Health uses advanced technologies to come up with solutions that can cure many diseases. It also continuously improves the knowledge of its own staff by continuously educating them on the same. They even educate other physicians as a belief that these solutions are meant to be shared so as to benefit one and all.

History

Long time ago, in the nineteenth century, it was believed that the only cure to Consumption (today called Tuberculosis) was clean air and sunshine. Consumption patients would look for sunny places in order to recover from the dreadful disease. In the United States, the sunny South-western states became famous for Consumption ridden patients.

People of the community of Denver, Colorado, objected to penny-less Consumption ridden patients coming into their town and dying because of the disease. It was during this time that the then popular charity worker Frances Wisebart Jacobs noticed the need to provide shelter to care for and look after these people.

With the help of Rabbi William Sterne Friedman, she got funds to buy land and construct a hospital. The hospital was constructed in the year 1893 but did not function due to economic depression and lack of funds.

In 1899, Rabbi Friedman convinced a Jewish organization, B'nai B'rith to annually fund the hospital. With this fund, on December 10, 1899, the Frances Wisebart Jacobs Hospital was renamed to National Jewish Hospital for Treatment of Consumption and began its services as a non-sectarian institution. It gained popularity for its services to everyone who came there for treatment. The treatment included clean air, sunshine, exercise, small medications and above all education on the disease.

In 1914, the first building where the research on tuberculosis could be done was erected and extensive research was done there. It joined the team to fight against Tuberculosis. When Tuberculosis became manageable disease in the United States in the 1950s, the National Jewish Heath widened its research and services to other respiratory disorders like asthma and immunity related diseases. By the end of 1960s, it specialized in the research and development of medicines that tackled Mycobacterial diseases. Its Mycobaterial help line exists even today.

National Jewish Health still remains committed to providing its findings in research to the treatment of respiratory diseases. It has broadened the range of its services worldwide.

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