NEW YORK, NY July 19, 2005 —Treatment for health problems related to 9-11 have largely been piecemeal. Now, health officials have announced what they say will be the first clinic for treating illnesses comprehensively. WNYC's Fred Mogul has more.

The new center will build on a pilot program based in a Bellevue Hospital asthma clinic. With a grant from the Red Cross, Bellevue will hire caregivers to treat not only respiratory illness but ongoing mental health problems and other ailments believed to be connected to environmental problems following the collapse of the Twin Towers.

The "Beyond Ground Zero" coalition says that until now, programs have focused on screening and monitoring health conditions rather than treatment. One of the main programs, at Mount Sinai Hospital, is exclusively for first responders and those working among the World Trade Center debris.

The new program will only be available to people living in Lower Manhattan. Organizers are deciding what the exact boundaries will be, but it will certainly include much, if not all, of Chinatown and the Lower East Side, as well as areas farther west and closer to the attack site.