Business First - by Steve Ivey, Staff Writer

Date: Friday, March 25, 2011, 2:16pm EDT

Home of the Innocents and the University of Louisville plan to cooperate to offer medical and dental services to children with special needs.

The newly opened Hockensmith Pediatric Assessment Center will house medical, dental, psycho-social, psychiatric, radiology, audiology and family assessment and treatment services. They will provide treatment for children with disabilities, low-income children and children who have experienced abuse, abandonment or neglect.

"The real strength in the partnership comes from the relationship with have with U of L Pediatrics and the School of Dentistry, in providing top-quality medical care to children with special needs," Gordon Brown, president and CEO of Home of the Innocents, said in the release. "These children often do not get the care that they so desperately need and deserve because of their circumstances."

U of L's pediatric dentistry program has had a partnership with Home of the Innocents since 2006. Now, with a three-chair dental clinic on site, U of L residents and students can provide more ongoing care to children, the release said.

The university's pediatrics department has had a relationship with the home for a decade. U of L pediatrician Dr. Elaine Martin has been named medical director of the Hockensmith Pediatric Assessment Center.