McCauley?s dream leads to new Parkinson?s clinic

Janice McCauley's dream of opening an assessment clinic for the diagnosis and treatment of Parkinson's disease has come true. The clinic, which opened Oct. 2, is sponsored by Cox Senior Advantage, Cox Rehabilitation Services, the Parkinson's Group of the Ozarks and the Ferrell-Duncan Clinic.

The assessment clinic will meet for half a day one day a week at Ferrell-Duncan Clinic, 1001 E. Primrose. McCauley hopes that the clinic will be open two days a week starting next January.

At the clinic, Parkinson's patients undergo a multidisciplinary assessment. This means that they see a physical therapist, an occupational therapist, a speech therapist, a nurse, a social services representative and a neurologist.

McCauley said the clinic came to fruition after a strategic planning seminar with the Parkinson's Group of the Ozarks in the spring of 2000. The Parkinson's Group and McCauley then approached Cox Hospital about starting the clinic, and since January of this year they have been working on putting the facility together.

"This is a wonderful opportunity for a Parkinson's patient to be able to access all of these services at one time and map out a plan of care to help keep them independent," McCauley said.

The Parkinson's Group of the Ozarks is a local affiliate of the National Parkinson Foundation, which McCauley said assists the local group with advice, patient services, publicity, support groups and other services.