April 2, 2009
The ALS Association Certifies ALS Clinic on Long Island
as the 34th Center of Excellence in the United States
By Gary Wosk, Staff Writer
The ALS Association has certified the ALS clinic at Stony Brook University Hospital in East Setauket, N.Y., as its 34th Center of ExcellenceSM in the nation.
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Stony Brook ALS Center |
After a comprehensive review of its medical treatment, rehabilitation techniques and psychological support, The Association concluded that the Stony Brook ALS Center, which opened in 2002 and is on Long Island, is providing the best care possible to those fighting Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
“The team approach at the Stony Brook ALS Center provides the highest quality of care for people living with ALS and their families,” said Sharon Matland, vice president of patient services for The Association. “We are extremely proud to welcome the center into our prestigious family of Centers of Excellence.”
People with ALS who attend the center once every three months are seen within the span of 3-l/2 hours by each professional member of a multidisciplinary team led by the center’s medical director, Dr. Rahman Pourmand. The team includes a representative of the Patient Services Department of The Association’s Greater New York Chapter. Other team members specialize in occupational therapy, physical therapy, nursing, speech, social work and nutrition.
The chapter also provides the center with funding and is committed to bringing quality care to patients on Long Island.
“We are very pleased by this news and very grateful to Dr. Pourmand and the Stony Brook ALS clinical team for their commitment to achieving this recognition,” said Dorine Gordon, president and CEO of the chapter. “The Stony Brook ALS Center is one of 34 ALS Association Certified Centers of Excellence in the country and the only one of its kind on Long Island.”
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Dr. Rahman Pourmand |
Pourmand, professor of nuerology and director of the Neuromuscular Disease Center at Stony Brook, has directed the center since 2003.
“We are very excited about becoming an ALS Association Certified Center of Excellence,” Pourmand said. “Getting certification for the Stony Brook ALS Center required intensive evaluation that has very specific criteria. Our entire multidisciplinary team of ALS specialists has met those requirements. I thank the entire team for their devotion to help us obtain this goal. The stamp of approval by The ALS Association means that our patients get the highest quality clinical care.”
Pourmand’s team will literally go the extra mile in making sure that each patient is receiving first-class care.
“I am very proud that our clinic at Stony Brook has been granted Certified Center of Excellence status by the ALS Association,” said Adele Marano, director of patient services for the chapter. “It is a testament to our clinical team’s dedication. The staff’s commitment extends beyond the four walls of the clinic. They go into patient homes to provide care, follow-up visits and counseling. This is a well-deserved honor recognizing the hard work they put into the comprehensive care for people with ALS.”
There are many pluses to receiving care at the center including a significant reduction in stress since most patients’ needs are met on the same day at one location.
Another very important benefit is that in this collaborative environment “e team offers each person living with ALS an individualized plan that is best suited to his or her needs and that results in an enhanced quality of life,” Matland said.
Patients play an active role at the center in determining their treatment plan, and quickly bond with medical professionals.
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Greater New York Chapter president and CEO Dorine Gordon |
“I’m so excited that this has finally happened,” said Theresa Donovan-Imperto, RN, nurse coordinator at Stony Brook ALS Center. “The team at Stony Brook deserves this honor. They are a devoted group of professionals helping people with ALS partake in decisions about their future and their battle with this disease, standing by their side throughout their ordeal. The team becomes an extended part of the family doing only what is best for ALS patients. This is a testament to their dedication to those living with ALS.”
The concept for this center was first proposed in 2001 to the chapter by Chris Pendergast, who has lived with ALS since 1994. His Ride for Life group has raised money for the center by sponsoring such fundraisers as The Long Island Educators and Health Care Professionals Cup, an annual golf outing. In 2008, the chapter presented the center with a check for a grant made possible by the group.
“The care is a marked improvement over the judicial care usually given patients at non-center facilities, said Pendergast in a hospital publication. “Here we get all of our medical and support needs addressed by one focused team. The clinic has evolved our ALS care into the 21st century.”
Other Centers of Excellence in the state of New York include the ALS Center at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syrcacuse and the Beth Israel ALS Center in New York City.
The mission of The Association’s Center Program is to define, establish and support a national standard of care in the management of ALS. The objective of the program is to encourage and provide that state-of-the-art care.
