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Hospital for Special Care outlines neuromuscular, long‑term acute care and multidisciplinary services
Summary
Dr. Kevin Felice described Hospital for Special Care’s inpatient and outpatient programs, its multidisciplinary neuromuscular center and referral contacts; members asked about adult neurocognitive services and referral paths
Hospital for Special Care presented its inpatient long‑term acute care services and multidisciplinary neuromuscular programs to the Rare Disease Advisory Council on Jan. 15, describing inpatient capacity, outpatient clinics and referral contacts for patients who need specialized care.
Why it matters: council members said the hospital’s mix of ventilator‑dependent inpatient care, specialized outpatient clinics and clinical trials capacity can serve many patients with rare neuromuscular diseases who need coordinated, multidisciplinary management.
What the hospital described: Dr. Kevin Felice, director of the neuromuscular program and a professor of neurology at UConn Health, said Hospital for Special Care operates about 236 inpatient beds across two campuses (a larger campus in New Britain and a smaller campus in the former Mount Sinai Hospital facility in Hartford) and typically has close to 100 patients on ventilators at any time. The hospital employs roughly 1,300 staff and runs inpatient programs including ventilator weaning, complex pediatrics, brain‑injury care, a cardiac failure program with an LVAD unit, pulmonary management for COPD and ventilator dependency, spinal‑cord injury services, and an inpatient autism unit created to reduce ED boarding.
Dr. Felice described the neuromuscular center as the largest multidisciplinary adult neuromuscular program in Connecticut. The center is a designated center of excellence with the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the ALS Association and other disease organizations; it runs an accredited EMG lab, a clinical‑trials program (noting existing NIH‑funded ALS observational research), and multidisciplinary clinics that bring core teams together for extended visits. He emphasized the administrative support needed to obtain insurance authorizations for genetic and other specialty tests and noted the program employs a full‑time staff member for prior authorizations.
Referrals and contacts: Dr. Felice said he would provide the name of the hospital referral contact (Mr. Catalano) and an administrative assistant (Maribel Toronto) and left a fax number for patient information submissions. He also said the center accepts referrals for adult neurocognitive and behavioral conditions through its co‑directed neurocognitive clinic.
Questions and follow‑up: council clinicians asked whether neurocognitive patients followed from pediatrics into adulthood could be seen at the center; Dr. Felice confirmed the neurocognitive clinic and staff accept such referrals by referral and provided instructions to send information to the administrative assistant. Members also discussed genetic testing pathways (next‑generation panels often free to patients initially; whole‑exome and whole‑genome sequencing require insurance authorization) and enzyme replacement or oligonucleotide treatments when relevant diagnoses are made.
What’s next: Dr. Felice offered to share slides and contact details for the referral team; council members agreed to follow up offline for case consultations and potential collaborations.
