The Children’s Tumor Foundation is excited to announce newly approved clinics in Seattle, Milwaukee, Gainesville, Houston, Portland and Winston-Salem to the NF Clinic Network (NFCN). With these clinics, the NFCN now recognizes 63 NF affiliate clinics throughout the country. All newly approved clinics provide adult care (and a few see both kids and adults).
Froedtert and Medical College of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Randall Children’s Hospital at Legacy Emanuel in Portland, Oregon
Swedish Medical Center – Seattle, Washington
UF Health Neuromedicine Hospital – Gainesville, Florida
University of TX/MD Anderson Cancer Center – Houston, Texas
Wake Forest School of Medicine – Winston-Salem, North Carolina
The NF Clinic Network (NFCN) was established by the Children’s Tumor Foundation (CTF) in 2007 to standardize and raise the level of neurofibromatosis (NF) clinical care nationally and integrate research into clinical care practices. The NFCN is the first nationwide network dedicated to improving clinical care and establishing best practices for treating those living with NF.
The NFCN is overseen by the CTF Clinical Care Advisory Board (CCAB) consisting of NF clinicians, patient advocates and CTF staff. New clinic applications are reviewed by the CCAB evaluating several factors including NF expertise, patient volume, multidisciplinary care, research involvement, and connections with local CTF volunteers. Once clinics are accepted into the NFCN, they may apply for CTF stipends including funding towards travel to the NF conference and funding to host a symposium or educational event. Since the inception of the NFCN in 2007, CTF has distributed over $2.5 M to clinics to support quality care and education. Last year, over 15,000 patients were seen in NFCN clinics. The CCAB, led by Scott Plotkin, MD, PhD from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, has also developed goals to continue to improve the NF care provided by the clinics through upcoming continuing education programs, mentorship opportunities, and the future development of clinical care guidelines. All of these efforts will continue to work towards CTF’s goal of improving access to quality NF care for the NF community.
Please visit https://www.ctf.org/understanding-nf/find-a-doctor for more details about each clinic including type of NF seen, number of patients seen, clinic areas of specialty, and whether the clinic enrolls patients in or refers to NF research.
