Spring 1998 ~ Newsletter
Resistance To Medicine
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Welcome To The New CF Clinics
- by Donna Slayton, RN, MSN
- Central Alabama Children's Specialist
Central Alabama Children's Specialists or CACS, is one of many in the growing family of offsite clinic facilities for Children's Health Systems (CHS). Located in Montgomery, Alabama at 3041 Eastern Boulevard, it is housed inside Dr. Robert Beshear's "Physician's to Children's" Pediatric practice. Sub-specialists from Gastroenterology, Hematology / Oncology, Urology, and Pulmonary have clinics in this facility on a regular basis.
The Pulmonary clinic is held every Tuesday and is staffed by Dr. Chris Makris, attending pulmonologist and Donna Slayton, RN, MSN, nurse educator and clinic coordinator. Children with Cystic Fibrosis, Asthma, Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia, and obstructive sleep apneas make up the majority of the patients seen in the clinic.
The first Tuesday of each month is dedicated to patients with Cystic Fibrosis. For the CF clinic, a nutrionist - Linda Jennings, and a social worker - Veronica Jackson, are also on site. This allows the clinic to provide comprehensive, multi-service CF care. With the availability of these services the Montgomery clinic is able to function as an outreach CF clinic. CF Foundation guidelines recommend that patients with CF be seen every three months, with three visits per year at the satellite clinic and the fourth annual visit at the sponsoring center, which is the Children's Hospital in Birmingham.
For patients and their families who live in the central and southern areas of the state this clinic has been a welcomed addition. Often families comment on how convenient it is to travel thirty minutes rather than two hours to a clinic visit. Additionally, families like being able to avoid the "Big City Traffic" of Birmingham. If you have any questions about this clinic, you can contact Dr. Chris Makris or Donna Slayton at (205) 939-5481.
New in Northern Alabama
by Dr. Vinit MaheshIn order to better serve our patients in Northern Alabama, some services of the Birmingham Cystic Fibrosis Center have been extended to Northern Alabama Children's Specialists (NACS) in Huntsville. NACS was founded in 1994 as a sub-specialty outreach of the Children's Hospital of Alabama and presently houses full time Pediatric Gastroenterology, Pulmonology, and Neurology services. The CF services are provided by Dr. Vinit Mahesh, former Associate Director of the Birmingham Cystic Fibrosis center.Ultimately, plans are to establish this site as a satellite CF center. A CRS sponsored clinic for CF is held on the third Friday of every month, but patients can be seen by appointment during the month. The office is located at 502 Governor's Drive and appointments may be made by calling (256) 533 - 0633.