CLINICAL DIVISIONS

Kessenich Family MDA ALS Center

The Kessenich Center provides a multidisciplinary program for the diagnosis and management of patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS ) and other motor system disorders. ALS is commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease and is a progressive neuromuscular disease that causes degeneration of some of the largest of all nerve cells, called motor neurons. Motor neurons control the movement of voluntary muscles and extend from the brain to the spinal cord (the upper motor neuron) and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body (the lower motor neurons). The disease causes the motor neurons to degenerate and eventually die.

The clinic offers the services of neuromuscular physicians, neuromuscular nurses, pulmonologists, gastroenterologists, psychologists, geneticists, respiratory therapists, nutritionists, speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, and physical therapists.

The primary goal of the center is to provide multi-dimensional support and advance research into the cause and cure of ALS and provide the highest level of care for patients with ALS and their families from the time of diagnosis throughout the course of the disease.

The Kessenich Center has a special patient support fund, the Ilva Romano Memorial Fund, which provides equipment and services for individuals without the resources to pay for these essential items. The center also has an association with the ALS Recovery Foundation, which provides similar services for patients in need.

The Kessenich Center also has an equipment loan program coordinated with the local Muscular Dystrophy Association for the provision of all durable medical equipment.