New center offers physical, emotional wellness services

By Rachel Makabi
Daily Bruin Contributor

UCLA became the first hospital on the West Coast to have a
facility specifically designed to treat people with multiple
sclerosis with the opening of the Marilyn Hilton MS Achievement
Center June 21.

The center focuses on physical, recreational and emotional
wellness programs aimed at making patients more self
sufficient.

“We don’t do things for them, we are a tool for
people to do things for themselves.” said Center Director
Stephanie Fisher.

MS is a chronic disease where the body’s own defense
system attacks myelin, the substance that surrounds the central
nervous system. This results in a distortion or interruption of
nerve impulses to and from the brain. People diagnosed with MS can
experience a range of symptoms from numbness in their limbs to
paralysis and blindness.

The Center is a joint program between the Southern California
Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and the UCLA
Department of Neurology.

It currently holds programs to increase physical strength such
as yoga, hydrotherapy and modified aerobics. It also has
recreational programs like drama, art therapy, ceramics and outings
within the community.

Alan Robinson, the vice provost of Medical Sciences said that
the internal support that patients get from one another is crucial
to the program.

“Patients not only get cared for but coming here in a
group they care for each other,” said Robinson, who is also
the executive associate dean of UCLA’s school of
medicine.

Program member Beverly Thomas said she appreciates being in an
environment with people who are experiencing the same challenges as
her.

“It motivates you to be with other people with the similar
problems that you have,” Thomas said. “I like to be
with other people, just talking and sharing experiences.”

Since its opening earlier this month, the center has had eleven
members attending every Thursday.

Fisher said she hopes within the next year the center will
expand to include 25 members attending each day.

The center is named in honor of Marilyn J. Hilton who was
diagnosed with MS several years ago and donated money for the
creation of the center.

Throughout the ceremony, Hilton sat by her husband and smiled.
Her son Steve spoke on his mother’s behalf saying she has
always supported charitable activities throughout her life and is
happy that her name should be on a UCLA facility because UCLA is a
leader in the country on MS research and treatment.

“When people are faced with tremendous challenges, the
biggest achievement is saying “˜I will not let this disease
pull me down,'” Steve said.

Center president Leon LeBuffe first had the idea to create the
MS center after visiting a similar facility in Rochester, NY in
1994. But at the time UCLA said it did not have enough space for
the center.

Tom Sherak, one of the founders of the new center, said when he
heard the center would not be built, he wrote a letter to then
Chancellor Charles E. Young expressing his disappointment.

“I told him I was putting a curse on the basketball
team,” Sherak said with a laugh. “UCLA did not make it
to the final four or sweet 16 for many years after that.”

Sherak said he did not lift the curse on the basketball team
until Chancellor Carnesale allotted space for the facility last
year.

Many of the founders said they hope similar centers will spring
up around the nation.

“Every American with a disability should have a chance to
come to a center like this,” said Department of Neurology
Chairman Robert C. Collins.