Grand opening of Point for Parkinson's
On Wednesday November 16th, Point for Parkinson’s was officially opened by Nienke Homan, deputy of the province of Groningen. This important milestone was integrated in an interesting mini symposium.
In this symposium, a number of speakers emphasized the importance of this Parkinson expertise center, in which the care for Parkinson is organized in an integral way by combining the expertise of various health care professionals. Point for Parkinson’s
Point for Parkinson’s (Dutch: Punt voor Parkinson; abbreviated as PvP) is characterized by a patient-centered approach. In 2001, two neurologists from Groningen, Teus van Laar and Wijnand Rutgers, took the initiative in improving the care for patients with Parkinson’s disease. They started by setting up the 'Parkinson short stay', in which PD patients were admitted for a short period in order to optimize their treatment. This was a big success: treatment at the short stay ward postponed a definitive nursing home placement.
In the following years, the collaboration between the two neurologists intensified and expanded to other health care professionals, which resulted in PvP in its present form. To date, PvP offers both outpatient care and clinical care for patients with PD. Next to this, PvP serves as a regional center of expertise for PD and PD research.