Mission 

The mission of the Rocky Mountain Multiple Sclerosis Center is to help people living with MS and their families lead a quality life by providing individualized care, support, education and research.

By combining patient care services, education and research into one comprehensive program, the MS Center accomplishes its mission and improves the quality of life for MS patients. This multi-faceted approach to chronic disease has served as a model for other institutes around the country.

A total patient view is emphasized with a premium placed on a multidisciplinary approach. The Rocky Mountain MS Center ensures that each patient and family member receives the most current information and treatment options available.

History

The Rocky Mountain MS Center was founded as an independent nonprofit organization in 1978 by Dr. Jack Burks and N. Daren Writer. Mr. Writer was diagnosed with MS in 1974. He was told “there was nothing anyone could do about MS,” and to “go home and put his affairs in order.” This was unacceptable to this man of action and leader in the Denver business community. He sought out a brilliant, young neurologist who was dedicated to finding the cause of MS and a cure for the disease. Like Mr. Writer, Dr. Burks believed something could be done for people living with MS. Together they created a single, comprehensive facility to both treat people with MS and find the cause and cure for the disease.

The Rocky Mountain MS Center was initially affiliated with the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and the Denver Veteran’s Administration Medical Center. In 1988, the Rocky Mountain MS Center moved to the campus of Swedish Medical Center, in Englewood, Colorado. In 1992, the Rocky Mountain MS Center broadened its continuum of care by merging with MS Community Resources (formerly known as the MS Society of Colorado, Denver). This merger enhanced community services with the addition of hydrotherapy and a specialized adult day program, the Rocky Mountain MS Center King Adult Day Enrichment Program (KADEP).

KADEP continued to expand and relocated in 1994 to a new home at the Marycrest Campus in Northwest Denver. The ongoing need and demand for this critical service led to two subsequent expansions.Today the program serves 130 people per week, averaging 60 clients per day.

From the beginning, the Rocky Mountain MS Center conducted basic science research. In the first years of operation, Rocky Mountain MS Center scientists isolated a corona virus from MS brain tissue. Using that virus, they subsequently produced animal models of demyelinating disease. In 1993, the Center published another research advance. The Rocky Mountain MS Center scientists identified a particular immune cell (a specific T cell) in the spinal fluid of newly diagnosed MS patients. This contributed to the mounting evidence that T cells are involved in orchestrating the onset of MS.

The Rocky Mountain MS Center is also home to the Brain and Tissue Bank. This brain and tissue bank was one of the first and remains one of the largest in the world. The bank supplies MS tissue samples to scientists and researchers throughout the world who conduct MS research.

The Rocky Mountain MS Center was chosen as a testing site for most of the major clinical trials that explored treatment interventions for people with MS. Based on those and other studies in the early 1990s, it became possible to directly treat the disease, not just manage the symptoms. These immunomodulating medications alter immune system function in a way that slows the progression of MS.

In 1999, the Rocky Mountain MS Center began to develop information about complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). This effort resulted in a website designed both to provide information about CAM and to generate new information through web-based surveys. Today the CAM website has over 17,000 registered users, and provides state-of-the-art information on MS and complementary and alternative medicine. The CAM website also provides a unique approach to research, using technology to survey large numbers of people living with MS on the effectiveness and safety of various interventions used to treat MS.

Many nationally recognized MS experts are current and former Rocky Mountain MS Center employees. The Rocky Mountain MS Center continues to attract national recognition for its programs and initiatives. The Rocky Mountain MS Center is not to be confused with other non-profits serving the MS community in Colorado nor is it a chapter of any national organization. It is an independent Center of excellence for people living with MS in the Rocky Mountain region in need of clinical care and education, and a valuable national and international resource for cutting edge MS information and research.

The Rocky Mountain MS Center is best known for excellent, individualized care. MS is more than a medical diagnosis and people living with the disease and their families need more than traditional medical intervention. Patients, caregivers and the community rely on the Rocky Mountain MS Center for comprehensive treatment, professional resources, and information on the latest research advances.

Due to the many generous gifts from individuals, foundations and corporations, the Rocky Mountain MS Center continues to fulfill its mission:  to help people living with MS and their families lead a quality life by providing individualized care, support, education and research. The days of being told to “go home, and put your affairs in order” are over. Today, there is help for those with MS and hope for a cure.