On June 5, 2015, the new Center for Occupational & Environmental Medicine at ECMC opened its doors in Buffalo. The Center is a health facility for Western New York work force members who have work-related health needs. The Center offers health education, early diagnosis, and treatment. The location in Buffalo is one of several other clinics throughout New York State that are part of the Occupational Health Network Program.

The clinics are a resource for health care providers to offer consultations or referral visits to workers with potential work-related illnesses. This includes workers who might have been exposed to hazardous solvents, diesel fumes, or asbestos. The medical staff at these centers ask four crucial questions, as they aim to determine if a medical condition could be work-related. These questions include:

  • What kind of work do you do?
  • Are you now or have you previously been exposed to dusts, fumes, chemicals, radiation or loud noise?
  • Are your symptoms better or worse when you are at work?
  • Do you think your health problems are related to your work?

The clinic is available to all workers, retirees and residents of New York State. Services are offered at no cost to the patient, as medical bills are submitted to Workers Comp, employer health funds and insurance. Funds to pay medical bills are also available for patients without any source of health coverage.

In Buffalo, the director of the center is Dr. Wajdy Hailoo, a physician who specializes in occupational and environmental medicine. He returns to Buffalo again after directing a similar program in the 1980’s, which was also aimed at helping workers exposed to occupational and environmental problems in the workplace. Dr. Hailoo regularly attends retiree and union meetings for workers with possible occupational exposure. He directs the Center with his passion for helping workers, as he said, “Buffalo has a great need for occupational services and so many people may not even know they are at risk.”

As a railroad worker, you may have had occupational exposure to asbestos and diesel that caused your cancer. If you or a loved one are a current or former railroad worker diagnosed with cancer, pleasecontact us to discuss your legal rights with an experienced railroad injury lawyer.