Muhammad Ali facility for Parkinson’s disease patients plans expansion

Muhammad Ali facility for Parkinson's disease patients plans expansion

Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center in Phoenix, Arizona will be expanding its facilities and services to cater to more patients, conduct more research and educate the public regarding the degenerative disease.

The center opened its brand new site in December 2010 on the Barrow Neurological Institute of St. Joseph's Hospital.

Officials of the hospital announced the expansion during the annual charity event Celebrity Fight Night, which gave $1.5 million to the facility last year. Since its inception 17 years ago, the event has contributed about $17 million to the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center.

"We have had a remarkable year in this facility," said center director Dr. Abraham Lieberman. "We have increased the numbers of patients we are seeing dramatically, as well as the number of people who come to the center for our education and social programs and we have increased our ability to develop new drugs and treatments for Parkinson's disease."

The Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center will build more clinical and physical therapy space and a speech lab, among other improvements.

Celebrity Fight Night executive director Sean Currie said the charity event is proud to be " a major reason why the center can expand and include anything a Parkinson's patient could possibly need in one world-class facility."

Entertainers and celebrities such as rock star Bret Michaels, a former patient at St. Joseph's, will be attending this year's event on March 19. The opening event last year of the renowned facility at St. Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix was attended by Muhammad Ali.

Posted by George Daniels on Wednesday March 23 2011, 9:06 AM EDT. Ref: PRNewswire. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Health. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0