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Southeast Kansas Health Study
V. Applicant Background
The Center for Environmental and Occupational Health was established in 1985. It is dedicated to providing its clients with excellence in clinical and preventive medicine, and in educational and research programs directed at understanding the relationships between human health and hazards in the environment.
To fulfill its mission, the center draws on the expertise of a full-time staff that includes environmental and occupational medicine physicians, nurses, toxicologists, and an industrial hygienist. The center's 17 doctorally trained members devote all or a portion of their time to center activities. Members and staff combined offer specialized skills in the following research and technical areas: biochemical, clinical and industrial toxicology; clinical pharmacology; environmental chemistry; environmental medicine; epidemiology; industrial hygiene; metals analysis; occupational health; and risk assessment.
The center's program areas focus on a broad range of activities related to occupational and environmental health, laboratory services, and research and education.
Occupational and Environmental Health
The center's Department of Occupational Health and Environmental Medicine provides clinical occupational health services for the University of Kansas Medical Center, other Kansas state agencies, and clients in the community. The mission of the department is to provide employers with the medical services needed to maintain a healthy and safe work environment for their employees.
Services the department provides include preplacement examinations, OSHA-mandated medical surveillance examinations, program development for non-OSHA mandated surveillance in special workplace exposure situations, medical consultations for accident investigations, evaluation and treatment of work-related injuries and illnesses, and workers' compensation case management.
The department's medical staff consists of physicians educated in occupational medicine, nurse practitioners, occupational health nurses, and a nurse case manager. All personnel are dedicated to providing up-to-date occupational and environmental health needs based upon federal and state laws and current medical information. The department works closely with the other center divisions and departments at the University of Kansas Medical Center to provide quality customer service.
Environmental Health and Laboratory Services
The center's Field Services Division assists health-care providers, government and industrial agencies and patients/customers in understanding the health risks associated with exposure to toxic substances. The division offers customers a variety of environmental health services ranging from telephone consultations on possible toxic exposure problems to on-site monitoring, support and intervention services, including laboratory analyses, for large-scale occupational and environmental emergencies.
Research and Education
Center members are supported by federal and industrial grants. Members and staff conduct research in the areas of biochemical pharmacology, industrial hygiene, molecular biology, occupational medicine, epidemiology and toxicology.
As part of its mission, the center supports occupational and environmental education programs. Staff members serve as instructors for a variety of internal and external courses relating to industrial hygiene, environmental and occupational medicine, environmental health, environmental sampling and analysis, risk assessment, and environmental remediation.
Quality Assurance and Accreditation
Participating in quality assurance and accreditation programs is an important part of the center's activities. The Field Services Laboratory participates in quality assurance programs of the College of American Pathologists, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Industrial Hygiene Association, and the Quebec Interlaboratory Comparison Program. It also is an OSHA-approved blood lead laboratory.
Collaborative Ties
The center maintains collaborative research and teaching programs in environmental and occupational medicine with the University of Kansas Medical Center's basic research and clinical departments, and with the University of Kansas Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering and the Center for Environmental Education and Training of the Continuing Education Division. The center also has active working relationships with the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the Department of the Navy, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
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The University of Kansas Medical Center