J. Orin Edson Family Lewy Body Dementia Center Opens in Tucson

Banner Alzheimer’s Institute is expanding to better diagnose, treat and support the community facing the full spectrum of dementias. The J. Orin Edson Family Lewy Body Dementia Center will focus on dementia with Lewy bodies, Parkinson’s disease dementia and mild cognitive impairment due to Lewy body disease. 

The new center will begin seeing patients Aug. 2 at 2626 E. River Road.

The addition of J. Orin Edson Family Lewy Body Dementia Center at Banner Alzheimer’s Institute compliments the care and support already established at the Toole Family Memory Center, which opened in spring 2020 in partnership with University of Arizona clinicians and researchers. 

Alzheimer’s disease is the most prevalent of the dementias and Lewy body dementia is considered the second most common in older adult populations.

“Patients coming for treatment with dementia of Lewy body or Parkinson’s disease dementia have very specific needs,” said Dr. Allan Anderson, director of Banner Alzheimer’s Institute. “They are often quite different than patients with cognitive disorders due to Alzheimer’s disease. In addition to the cognitive deficits, these patients typically have significant motor abnormalities that can cause significant problems in daily activities and place them at increased risk of falls.”

The new center is an outpatient clinic for patients suffering from dementia with Lewy bodies and Parkinson’s disease dementia, as well as milder stages of cognitive impairment. 

The new 5,000-square-foot center includes clinical space, a physical therapy room, a wellness gym, as well as on-site physical, occupational and speech therapies services to ensure patients receive the highest level of care for their disease in a single setting. 

“Traditionally patients have to seek separate programs for support of individual symptoms. Here, we hope to approach the process with more holistically and offer all facets of care from our team of experts,” Anderson said.

Thanks to a generous multi-million-dollar donation from the J. Orin Edson family, the center provides the region’s only comprehensive Lewy body dementia resource for patients and their family caregivers. It will be staffed by neurologists specializing in movement disorders, geriatric psychiatrists, neuropsychologists, social workers, nurse practitioners, medical assistants and other clinicians.

With the addition of the J. Orin Edson Family Lewy Body Dementia Center, Banner Alzheimer’s Institute’s campus in Tucson has expanded to 15,000-square-feet of personalized health care that includes a memory center, a medical clinic, access to a family and community services program, as well as a clinical research program that gives patients access to investigational treatments. The institute provides care for those who have Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, dementia due to traumatic brain injury and other dementia syndromes.

Clinical care includes initial evaluations, access to resources, follow-up visits for long-term disease management and access to clinical trials. 

Banner Alzheimer’s Institute is made possible through generous philanthropic support to the Banner Alzheimer’s Foundation. The programs and services created to support those with memory impairment at Banner’s memory centers throughout the state are also funded by the foundation and its donors.