CNC                  POPC

CNC

The Children's Neuromuscular Center has been in existence (formerly named Pediatric Orthopedic Center) since 1990. It was formed to provide a unified service in the Summit (NJ) area for a very large patient population that formerly received services divided between multiple and distant sites.

To maintain continuity of care of complex patients who typically carried multiple diagnoses, the POC was established. That center quickly established itself as a center of excellence serving a very large geographic area. Various hospitals utilized and still utilize the services of CNC, which has strived to stay out of the fray of ever changing institutional affiliations which afflict our current health care dynamics.

To that end it has its own endowments for research and mission. The staff work with professionals from many hospitals within and outside of New Jersey including spinal surgeons from NYC and hand specialists, for example.

We also have specialized ENT surgery, and a surgeon who developed - for us - an operation to alleviate the problem of drooling (sialorrhea). We have followed this population very carefully as the treatment is unique and permanent.

The members of POPC serve as the core of CNC. There are several additional players in CNC of which two are most frequent in patient contact.

Mrs. Mary Alexander is an assistant professor at Seton Hall University teaching physical therapy. Her primary focus is teaching other therapists about complex children's rehab issues. She also instructs the therapists who will be giving care to patients who were sent to us. She will ocasionally help get a youngster started before a long trek home, and establish a PT &| OT communication. She runs the CNC seating clinic and supervises wheelchair, special mobility and equipment needs.

Our professor Mary is the 2004 recipient of the

Community Service Award
from the
American Physical Therapy Association

Mr. Robert Frank is a third generation orthotist in a family of orthotists. He, of course, makes braces. However, his role in CNC is to evaluate bracing needs in general even when he is not the patient's own orthotist. He has been instrumental in the implementation of new and highly individualized braces designed by CNC & POPC. He very often helps us to modify braces made elsewhere to solve problems that seemed unsolvable. Under his hand CNC has a long list of unique braces which are more suited to some of the very difficult and unusual problems which we see.

Included in that list is an array of very effective spinal braces. Those braces have been, for many years, built as dynamic constructs (that is they change shape and can be altered as worn). The advantage to such constructs is that they can apply intermittent forces which would not be tolerated if applied in static form. Secondly, they are volume constant (they don't squeeze, they steer), very important to our many reflux prone children. Low surface area braces also are especially useful to children with poor temperature control.

Others: There is an array of services, including wheelchair etc, for our local children. For the most part we try to work with providers from the living area of the patient.