The University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) today announced a new two-year contract to continue to provide newborn screening services to the state of Maine.
The services will be provided by the New England Newborn Screening Program, which is part of UMMS’s Commonwealth Medicine division.Since 1976, the New England Newborn Screening Program has screened more than 500,000 babies born in Maine. UMMS’s proposal to continue providing services, which includes an option for renewal of up to four years, received the highest score during the review process.
“We are extremely pleased to continue and build upon our strong working relationship with Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services and the Maine Newborn Bloodspot Screening Program,” said Thomas D. Manning, Deputy Chancellor, Commonwealth Medicine.
The UMMS New England Newborn Screening Program, a comprehensive, regional newborn screening provider with a public health mission, performs more than 180,000 tests each year to identify newborns with treatable disorders. Over the last 50 years, the program has screened more than 6.5 million babies throughout New England and in other states, as well as in Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic. With 600 years of combined staff experience and three decades of program operations knowledge, the New England Newborn Screening Program is a leader in the field.
About the University of Massachusetts Medical School
The University of Massachusetts Medical School, one of the fastest-growing academic health centers in the country, has built a reputation as a world-class research institution, consistently producing noteworthy advances in clinical and basic research. The Medical School attracts more than $255 million in research funding annually, 80 percent of which comes from federal funding sources. The mission of the Medical School is to advance the health and well-being of the people of Massachusetts and the world, through pioneering education, research, public service and health care delivery. Commonwealth Medicine, the Medical School’s health care consulting division, provides a wide range of care management and consulting services to government agencies and health care organizations.