VCU Multiple Sclerosis Treatment and Research Center receives comprehensive designation
Granted by the National MS Society, the three-year designation is awarded to clinics that provide the highest level of multidisciplinary care for patients with multiple sclerosis.
The VCU Multiple Sclerosis Treatment and Research Center, housed in the School of Medicine’s Department of Neurology, has received the Comprehensive MS Center designation from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS).
The three-year designation is awarded to clinics and centers that deliver the highest level of multidisciplinary care to patients with MS, a chronic disease of the central nervous system that affects nearly 1 million Americans. According to Myla Goldman, M.D., chair of the Division of Neuroimmunology and director of the MS Treatment and Research Center, it’s a “competitive process that requires an extensive center application." VCU’s is one of five Comprehensive MS Centers in Virginia and 162 nationwide.
The NMSS’s standard for designation prioritizes collaboration and patient empowerment, and comprehensive MS centers implement these principles by taking an interdisciplinary approach to treatment that includes professionals outside of the neurology field. At the VCU MS Treatment and Research Center, three fellowship-trained physicians work alongside a nurse coordinator, a clinical pharmacist and a psychiatrist, and the team regularly collaborates with physical and occupational therapists plus specialists in physical medicine and rehabilitation, urology, neuro-ophthalmology and sleep medicine.
“Our designation provides formal recognition of the exceptional multidisciplinary care we provide,” Goldman said. “It reflects the relentless commitment of our VCU team to patients and families living with MS in the commonwealth and beyond.”
A. Gordon Smith, M.D., chair of the Department of Neurology, echoed that sentiment.
“I couldn’t be more proud of our Comprehensive MS Center team. They are a remarkable group of clinicians and scientists who are providing the highest level of patient centered care while striving to better understand the underlying cause of MS in order to develop new treatments,” Smith said. “The impact they are having on MS care in the commonwealth promises to improve the lives of patients across the country.”
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