MDA DESIGNATES CENTER AT REEVES REHAB CENTER FOR LOU GEHRIG'S DISEASE TREATMENT, RESEARCH
TUCSON, Ariz., Aug. 15, 2002 — Reeves Rehabilitation Center at University Hospital, an affiliate of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, has been designated as the site of a new MDA/ALS research and clinical center. The center is the 27th facility to receive the designation from the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
MDA established the comprehensive, multidisciplinary center to serve people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a fatal muscle-wasting disease prominent in MDA's program. The designation will be announced formally at 12:30 p.m. Monday at the Reeves Center, University Hospital, Foundation Room, 4502 Medical Center Drive.
In ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, destruction of nerve cells that control voluntary muscles leads to severe muscle wasting and paralysis. Death typically results within three to five years of diagnosis, usually from respiratory complications. Approximately 30,000 Americans are affected by ALS.
The cause of ALS isn't fully understood, and no cure exists.
The new MDA/ALS center, to be directed by neurologists Carlayne Jackson and Steven Lovitt, is located in the Reeves Rehabilitation Center (University Health System) at 1703 Floyd Curl Drive. Those wishing to obtain more information or to schedule appointments at the center should call MDA Health Care Service Coordinator Coley Claybaugh at MDA's office in San Antonio at (210) 650-3181.
Jackson and Lovitt head a team that offers a multidisciplinary approach to the medical management of ALS. The team includes physicians, a nurse coordinator, physical therapist, occupational therapist, speech therapist and a genetic counselor. The center will also feature a pulmonologist, cardiologist and gastroenterologist.
In addition to its clinical services, the team will conduct ongoing ALS research.
"We're delighted to add the San Antonio facility to our roster of MDA/ALS centers," MDA President & CEO Robert Ross said. "Under the direction of Drs. Jackson and Lovitt, the center will provide the best, most comprehensive care available for people with ALS, while helping advance our search for better treatments and a cure."
The San Antonio facility is the third MDA/ALS center in Texas, joining similar centers in Dallas and Houston. Other centers are located at major institutions in Albuquerque, N.M.; Atlanta, Baltimore and Boston; Charlotte and Durham, N.C.; Chicago, Denver, Kansas City; Irvine, Los Angeles (two centers) and San Francisco, Calif.; Madison, Wis.; Miami, Philadelphia, St. Louis and Salt Lake City; Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz.; New Haven, Conn.; New York City (two centers) and Syracuse, N.Y.
One of MDA's earliest volunteer leaders was Eleanor Gehrig, the widow of New York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig, whose name has become synonymous with ALS. With more than $135 million invested in the fight against ALS to date, MDA leads the worldwide scientific battle against the disease.
MDA is a voluntary health agency working to defeat more than 40 neuromuscular diseases through programs of worldwide research, comprehensive services, and far-reaching professional and public health education. The Association also maintains a clinic at the university's health science center serving residents of San Antonio who are affected by any of the diseases in MDA's program.
The Association's programs are funded almost entirely by individual private contributors.
