EL PASO, TEXAS (KFOX14/CBS4) — El Paso children with cystic fibrosis and their families may no longer need to travel out of state for specialized care.
El Paso Children’s Hospital is celebrating a new accreditation for its cystic fibrosis-affiliated center, joining a nationwide network of centers through the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
According to the Mayo Clinic, cystic fibrosis is a genetic disease that affects the lungs, pancreas, and other organs. The disease affects the cells that make mucus and other secretions, which are usually thin and slippery, making them sticky and thick and ultimately plugging the lungs’ pathways.
There are close to 40,000 children and adults living with cystic fibrosis in the United States, according to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
Hospital officials said the recent designation makes it the first CF-accredited center in the region and expands treatment options for children with stomach and lung issues.
Speaking to KFOX14/CBS4 on Thursday, Dr. Denease Francis, a pediatric gastroenterologist at El Paso Children’s Hospital, said the center will help patients who previously had to travel to other centers in Albuquerque and Dallas to receive treatment for cystic fibrosis.
“So these patients were traveling several hours in order to seek cystic fibrosis specialized care, and so with this accreditation, we’re excited is that they no longer have to make those travel those long distances to get the care that they need,” Dr. Francis said.
She added, “What we’re able to do is provide collaborative care. We’re in the clinic together. We’re seeing the patients together. We discuss the patients beforehand and we discuss the patient afterwards. So really we’re able to provide comprehensive care which has always been the goal.”
Dr. Endy Dominguez, a pediatric pulmonologist and chief of the Department of Pediatrics at El Paso Children’s Hospital, said the accreditation will also help advance research.
“Having this accreditation and having the backing of the CF Foundation will allow us to start investigating more here in the borderland and have better research, especially in the Hispanic population, which we don’t have that same amount of medication for them because of the type of genetics that they carry. So we have this good opportunity to do more research and find out more and then get near to the cure of CF cystic fibrosis,” Dominguez said.
For Dominguez, this is just the beginning, stating that he hopes to have a comprehensive center for not just children, but adults.
“So the future here, or the goals that we have, is to become a full center. Right now what we’re doing is incorporating adult patients, as some of our patients actually are adults, so we see adults in pediatrics here, and the goal is to have, at some point, both centers for adults and children. That’s the goal, to bring a big comprehensive center for adults and pediatrics,” Dominguez said.
According to hospital officials, the center is currently taking care of 27 families and hopes to continue growing as they see referrals coming in, and now have the ability to care for patients not only here in El Paso but from Juarez, Mexico, and Las Cruces, New Mexico.
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