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ALS clinic is first nationally certified on LI
Association cites growing program, multidisciplinary services, compassionate care
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The ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) Comprehensive Care Center at Stony Brook University Medical Center has become the first ALS Association Certified Center on Long Island. This distinction as a national "Center of Excellence" was announced during the Stony Brook University 2009 "Ride for Life" event on May 16. The Ride for Life benefits ALS research. The Stony Brook ALS Center is only the third to be certified in New York State and the 34th nationwide.
The ALS Association is the preeminent national organization that funds ALS research and oversees qualified ALS clinics. The ALSA Center Program defines, establishes and supports a national standard of care in the management of ALS. According to the ALSA, the program selects, certifies and supports only distinguished regional institutions recognized as the best in the field with regard to knowledge of and experience with ALS.
This spring the ALS Association concluded that the ALS clinic at SBUMC met all the criteria for an ALSA-certified center. The ALSA cited the clinic's good care of patients, multidisciplinary focus, sound leadership, comprehensive nature of services, increase in patient numbers and support to patients and their families as hallmarks of an outstanding and growing ALS clinical practice.
"We are pleased to become a nationally certified ALS Center, an indication that the Stony Brook practice is one in which patients can be cared for at every level for their physical, mental and emotional needs," says Rahman Pourmand, M.D., Director of the ALS Comprehensive Care Center at SBUMC.
"Having the Stony Brook clinic become nationally recognized as a certified center by the ALS Association is a dream come true for all of us who have the disease and live on Long Island," added Christopher Pendergast, a 16-year ALS survivor and Ride for Life founder.
The concept of the comprehensive clinic at Stony Brook took shape in 2001, when Pendergast approached officials at the ALS Association, greater New York chapter, with the idea for an organization to support and help develop a Long-Island based ALS treatment center. Pendergast envisioned that such a treatment facility would be a great convenience to area ALS patients, most of whom have mobility problems and would rather receive care closer to home than travel to New York City facilities for treatment and care.
During the past eight years, the center has developed into a practice that cares for approximately 15 to 20 new patients and 40 to 50 follow-up patients annually. It remains the only ALS treatment program on Long Island that provides same-site multidisciplinary services for patients. The center facilitates medical treatment, rehabilitation techniques and psychological support. The ALS team includes experts in areas such as neurology, occupational therapy, physical therapy, respiratory therapy, nursing, speech pathology, social work and nutrition.
In the official letter from the ALSA national office notifying Dr. Pourmand of the practice becoming the nation's 34th certified center, the organization states that the ALS clinic at Stony Brook "already has established a track record of providing good care to ALS patients... [and] the multidisciplinary team members are experienced in their respective specialty areas and provide good care with compassion and empathy."
During the SBU Ride for Life event, which featured a display of 6,000 pinwheels, representing the lives lost annually to the fatal disease, and a Remembrance Tribute to patients, the Ride for Life Organization donated $65,000 to benefit the Stony Brook ALS Comprehensive Care Center. The funds will be used to support patient services and research initiatives.
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