Ground Broken for Nation’s First Alzheimer’s Disease Hospital

Dorothy Kirsten French, describing herself as “a very determined prima donna,” joined Sen. Pete Wilson (R-Calif.) on Thursday in breaking ground in Los Alamitos for the John Douglas French Center, the nation’s first medical facility designed exclusively for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.

The long-term care center is named for the former Metropolitan Opera diva’s husband, one of the founders of UCLA’s Brain Research Institute, who is now a victim of the degenerative brain disease that affects an estimated 3 million Americans.

Wilson called the 120-bed, three-story facility “an exercise in applied hope,” and saluted the physician’s “gallant wife, who two years ago found herself trapped in the middle of a plot far more improbable than any in which she ever performed on stage.”

Also participating in the morning ceremonies were officials of National Medical Enterprises (NME), the corporation that will finance, construct, manage and own the $5.5-million center, which is located on land adjoining its Los Alamitos Medical Center. The French Center is scheduled to open in early 1987.

Under an agreement with the nonprofit John Douglas French Foundation for Alzheimer’s Disease, a minimum of 24 beds will be set aside for indigent patients, and a portion of the operating proceeds from the center will be donated to the foundation for use in underwriting Alzheimer’s disease research. The foundation has already raised and awarded nearly $400,000 for fellowships, grants and conferences on subjects related to the disease.

At the ground-breaking ceremonies, French and Wilson raised a flag that will fly over the Los Alamitos center, as well as over nine other such centers to be built in the next decade throughout the nation. All will be designated John Douglas French Centers. The yellow banner, depicting a sprig of “forget-me-nots,” symbolizes the foundation’s motto, French said, “Forget not those who cannot remember.”

Since Alzheimer’s usually appears late in life, and is first characterized by forgetfulness, it is frequently labeled senility.

At this time there is no reliable diagnostic test for the disease, which kills an estimated 125,000 Americans each year, nor is there any cure. Over a period of 7 to 11 years, patients lose their reasoning and understanding--although both may return from time to time--and eventually their ability to speak and care for themselves.

“I am convinced that my husband knew very soon after his memory loss that he was one of its victims,” Dorothy French said. “He tried so hard to keep his terrible secret from me, that I was almost the last to know that he was seriously ill. Now, Jack stares at me with vacant eyes, wondering who I am; and yet, when he does, and I embrace him, once in a while, he responds with a smile.”

Typically, Alzheimer’s victims begin showing signs of the disease after the age of 50, but it can strike at any age. Researchers are uncertain as to the cause of the condition, first described in 1907 by the German physician Alois Alzheimer. Some recent literature suggests that Alzheimer’s may be caused by a slow-acting virus, although Dr. Bruce Miller, the foundation’s scientific coordinator and an expert in the disease, said after the ceremony that in light of the “clear familial incidence” of the disease, other researchers are looking into the possibility of a genetic predisposition.

“The desperate need for this hospital can best be appreciated by those of us who are pioneers in fighting Alzheimer’s Disease,” French said of the facility’s specialized design.

According to a floor plan and model displayed at the ground breaking, those patients still able to get around on their own will be on the first floor, with access to gardens, aviaries and even a small putting green. The building will be divided into four wings, with groups of no more than 13 patients, all within view of a centrally located nursing station.

“The nursing staff will be carefully screened and trained to manage patients with no way to communicate or take care of themselves,” French said. “We plan to involve the families in working with us. We must inform them and help them through this ordeal.”

Rob Trafton, a spokesman for NME, said that private care at the Los Alamitos center is expected to cost private patients “incrementally more than (it would at) a skilled nursing care facility.” He noted that institutionalization for people with a primary diagnosis of Alzheimer’s is not now covered by any state or federal programs.

From its inception, a central element of NME’s mission has been to “fill what voids exist in our nation’s health care program,” according to John C. Bedrosian, senior executive vice president.

Wilson told the 200 people gathered for the ground breaking that the John Douglas French Foundation provides “a shining example of what aroused individuals can do to better the lives of others, especially when they link arms with a private sector which cares about people as much as profits.”

Although Congress last week passed a supplemental appropriations bill that includes funds for the study of various mental disorders, including Alzheimer’s, Wilson reminded the audience that “in the last few years, all Americans have learned the painful lesson of government’s limitations.”

Miller said the need to raise funds for medical research through groups like the John Douglas French Foundation is particularly acute because recent government cutbacks have made this “the most difficult time in the past 30 years, especially for young investigators.”