University of Missouri Health Care is opening a new clinic to treat patients with sickle cell disease. The clinic will be open the second and fourth Thursdays of every month.
Sickle cell is a genetic disease where red blood cells are in short supply. According to Children’s Mercy Hospital, most of the treatment centers are aimed toward children. Elizabeth Gunier, a sickle cell coordinator at Women's and Children's Hospital's blood disorder and cancer unit, says the new clinic is specifically for adults.
“This is the first time since I’ve been here that we are able to set up an adult clinic, just specifically for them," she says. "It’s something that’s been in the works, something that everybody’s wanted to do.”
The clinic is set to open at Ellis Fischel Cancer Center on Oct. 25, 2012. It is the first such clinic in Columbia. Others are located in St. Louis and Kansas City.