City to Open East Harlem Asthma Center

New York, NY —

The city will open its first asthma center in East Harlem. Mayor Bloomberg says the center will offer a variety of education services with the goal of cutting asthma hospitalizations 50% by 2010.

REPORTER: East Harlem has the city's highest asthma rate. Dr. Adam Aponte of Harlem's North General Hospital says while there's already several different treatment programs in the city, the new center will offer more individualized services and counselors.

APONTE: These are usually probably bachelor trained individuals who will go into a household, assess the environment and sort of implement simple measures to decrease the triggers in an environment. So actually, it's going to prove to be a very cost effective measure.

REPORTER: The city hasn't yet chosen a location for the new asthma center, but Bloomberg says it will be a storefront so people can walk in off the street.