Las Vegans who suffer from cystic fibrosis have gone to the same location for about 40 years to receive treatment that ultimately saves their lives.
Operated out of University Medical Center, the visits typically last several hours, and the patients interact with numerous specialists and health care workers during their treatment days. On September 30, UMC will close the clinic, but treatment will continue out of a private practice.
Patients weren’t happy with the decision, and protested the move Wednesday, Sept. 24. Craig Nakamura, who took initiative to move clinical operations to his own practice on Meadows Lane, said the decision was passed down last minute and without a plan in place to redirect the patients.
Services and treatments for the patients will continue as they always have been, as Nakamura has been with the clinic at UMC since it was founded. But now the financial and administrative duties fall on his shoulders, which is why most cystic fibrosis clinics have hospitals behind the operations.
GUESTS
Dr. Craig Nakamura, children's lung specialist
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