Spa City family aids Albany Med
$2.5M donation goes to help Cleft-Craniofacial Center
ALBANY, N.Y. » A Saratoga Springs family on Wednesday made a $2.5 million donation to Albany Medical Center to see that the hospital’s two-year-old Cleft-Craniofacial Center continues its work.
The gift from the Moser family — Robert, Lisa, Carson, 9, and Emery, 7 — was given to Dr. Oluwaseum Adetayo, the area’s only pediatric plastic surgeon, and the center. The multi-million donation will allow Adetayo and her team serve more children from the region who are born with cleft, cranial, and facial abnormalities.
In a brief ceremony on the hospital’s pediatric wing, Lisa Moser, speaking for the family, described Adetayo as a miracle worker who changes people’s lives.
“We are the ones who are honored to play a small part in a program that will transform the lives of many children annually and will continue to do so for many years to come,” she said.
The Mosers are natives of the Capital Region. Robert is a graduate of Queensbury High School and Union College. He is a real estate developer and owner of Prime Group Holdings. His wife is a graduate of Hudson Falls High School and Siena College.
Lisa Moser said she and her husband began funding cleft organizations globally after learning about Medical Missions for Children. When they learned of the Cleft-Craniofacial Center at Albany Med they reached out to get involved in a way that would not be a “one-off.”
“When you spend five minutes with any doctors in this field, you understand,” Lisa Moser said. “If you see a child with cleft it breaks your heart.”
Robert Moser said he took an interest in this particular condition because of what children may go through in school each day.
“It’s tough enough when you’re a child,” he said. “I look back on my own childhood and how tough it was to go through school with all the social pressures, and I said if I could do something I would. Everyone should be able to go through life and not have additional pressures put on them.”
Philanthropy is part of the family. Carson Moser said the students at his school, St. Clement’s Regional Catholic School in Saratoga Springs, have donated more than $5,000 to the Ronald McDonald House and more than $10,000 to St. Jude’s Hospital.
The Moser family was joined at the ceremony by Adetayo, one of her patients, Carter Powell, 10, and his mother Jennifer.
Adetayo is section chief of Pediatric Plastic Surgery and director of the Cleft-Craniofacial Center, a unique model of care where Albany Med physicians work alongside community-based specialists
from numerous disciplines.
“The Powells are representative of many of the families I see,” Adetayo said in her remarks. “Carter was one of my patients whose quality of life was affected (by his condition), but his insurance claim was denied by the company which said, ‘Well, you can still function.’ Many claims are being denied.”
A cleft lip is an opening in the upper lip that may extend into the nose. A cleft palate is when the roof of the mouth contains an opening into the nose. The disorders can result in feeding, speech and hearing problems and frequent ear infections.
In her remarks, Jennifer Powell said she was honored to be the mother to publicly thank the Mosers for their generosity and philanthropy.
“Your gift is a testament to your family,” she said. “Your support will help numerous families and individuals that are afflicted, especially those dealing with issues of insurance coverage.”
Powell, who lives in Granville, Washington County, said her feelings on the issue of pediatric medical treatment were acquired first hand by having a child born with cleft lip and palate. Carter had his first surgery at 11 weeks and his first palate surgery at 13 months.
“I’ve been working with an orthodontist for Carter since he was one month old,” she said. “It’s quite extensive. But, in comparison to other children with this condition, Carter’s is more simplistic. I’m pleased someone would do this in our area so families don’t have to travel so far.”
Adetayo said there were more than 1,000 visits to the hospital’s pediatric plastic surgery center in 2016. The Mosers gift, she said, will be divided with some of the funds going to after surgery supplies for continued care, personnel, equipment and educational information for patients.
Powell and Adetayo are working together as legislative advocates with several state legislators to get bills approved that make it harder for insurance companies do deny treatment for children with the cleft, cranial, and facial abnormalities.