Funding Sought to Keep UCI Poison Control Center Open

The Poison Control Center at UC Irvine receives more than 51,000 requests for help each year, mostly on behalf of children.

The contract between UCI Medical Center and the State Emergency Medical Services Authority for the operation of the regional Poison Control Center will be terminated if funds for its continued operation are not forthcoming.

The hospital regrets that its appeals for help have gone unheeded to date and that the medical center budget can no longer subsidize operating expenses associated with the Poison Control Center.

The department of pediatrics at the UCI College of Medicine is attempting to avert the closing, which threatens the welfare of hundreds of thousands of children in Southern California.

The center serves five counties: Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Inyo and Mono. The Poison Control Center is a facility of high quality.

Dating back to the 1950s, the center has been the source people turned to during outbreaks of bacterial poisonings, chemical spills and daily misadventures.

It has been designated a regional resource for poison control. The experience accumulated during its years of operation will be irreplaceable if the facility is lost.

As pediatricians, we are advocates for children. Surely, in the area served by the Poison Control Center, there are the resources to allow continuation of the program.

Of the $800,000 annual budget, $500,000 must be raised--and quickly. The department of pediatrics has set up a fund to save the Poison Control Center and has made the first contribution.

We appeal to all citizens to come forward to contribute.

The hour is late and the task formidable. But if not now, when?

IRA T. LOTT, M.D., Chairman, Department of Pediatrics, UCI College of Medicine