Will meet with physicians and families at Good Samaritan Hospital
Two University of Nebraska Medical Center physicians will come to Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney on Friday, Sept. 30, to share their expertise on Lou Gehrig’s disease (also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS).
The physicians – J. Americo Fernandes, M.D., and Pariwat Thaisetthawatkul, M.D. – will make two presentations at Good Samaritan. Both presentations will take place in Conference Rooms E and F in the Good Samaritan Conference Center located on the second floor directly above the emergency room.
From 12:30 to 1:30 p.m., the physicians will make a Grand Rounds presentation geared to physicians and other health professionals. It will be broadcast over the Nebraska telehealth system to 21 different rural sites for community providers unable to attend. Continuing medical education credits will be given.
Following this, the physicians will hold a community informational session from 2 to 3:30 p.m. This event, which is sponsored by The ALS Association, is intended for ALS patients and families in the area as well as interested community agencies such as home health care and hospice providers.
Dr. Fernandes, assistant professor, neurological sciences, and Dr. Thaisetthawatkul, associate professor, neurological sciences, will speak about the disease and answer questions.
In addition to the two physicians, Shannon Todd, ALS care coordinator for The ALS Association, will discuss services offered by the association, while Elspeth McKeon, neuromuscular case manager for UNMC’s ALS Clinic, will provide an overview of the clinic and what it can provide for patients and their families.
Miechelle McKelvey, Ph.D., assistant professor, department of communication disorders, University of Nebraska at Kearney, also will be on hand to talk about speech pathology services available in Kearney.
The UNMC ALS Clinic specializes in the management, care and support of people with ALS, providing resources and clinical expertise that make it easier for patients to cope effectively with ALS and live the highest quality of life.
The clinic provides multidisciplinary care at a single site, so that people with ALS and their families can see a wide range of experts at each visit. UNMC has been accepted as a member of two prestigious national ALS research organizations – Northeast ALS (NEALS) consortium and the Western ALS (WALS) study group.
ALS is a progressive, degenerative, fatal neuromuscular disease that can strike without warning. Every day, 15 new cases of ALS are diagnosed within the United States and 15 people die from the disease. Seventy years have passed since Lou Gehrig’s death from ALS at the age of 37, yet, there is still no known cause, cure or effective treatment for this devastating illness.
Through world-class research and patient care, UNMC generates breakthroughs that make life better for people throughout Nebraska and beyond. Its education programs train more health professionals than any other institution in the state. Learn more at unmc.edu.