Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Austin, TX, April 5, 2016 – Vanderbilt University Medical Center has been certified as the eighth restless legs syndrome (RLS) Quality Care Center by the RLS Foundation. This certification recognizes Vanderbilt as a specialty center for treating RLS patients with a range of complexities and comorbidities.

RLS (also known as Willis-Ekbom disease) is a chronic neurological disorder affecting millions of people, with often devastating impact on quality of life; an estimated 2 to 3 percent of adults need clinical treatment for RLS.

Arthur S. Walters, MD, director the RLS Quality Care Center at Vanderbilt, says, “We are pleased that Vanderbilt University Medical Center has been certified as a Quality Care Center for the treatment of RLS. We appreciate very much this honor and will do our best to live up to this distinction and provide adults, children and adolescents with the very best care possible.” 

The RLS Foundation coordinates a network of certified RLS Quality Care Centers to improve diagnosis and treatment of the disease worldwide. Centers must meet rigorous criteria that demonstrate a high level of expertise and experience treating patients who have RLS.

The program benefits patients and families through:

“At the RLS Foundation, we receive calls each day from individuals seeking expert care in the management of RLS,” says RLS Foundation Executive Director Karla Dzienkowski. “RLS Quality Care Centers provide individuals with access to certified providers who are experts in the diagnosis, treatment and management of RLS. This leads to improving quality of life for these patients as well as their families. We are pleased to welcome this distinguished and experienced group of RLS providers from Vanderbilt University Medical Center to our Quality Care Center network.”

Other certified RLS Quality Care Centers include the Center for Sleep Medicine at Mayo Clinic; Emory Sleep Center; Houston Methodist Neurological Institute; Johns Hopkins Center for Restless Legs Syndrome; Stanford Center for Sleep Sciences and Medicine; Yale Centers for Restless Legs Syndrome; and Innsbruck Medical University, Department ofNeurology, Sleep Lab and Sleep Disorders Outpatient Clinic. 

To learn more about the RLS Quality Care Center Program, visit www.rls.org/quality-care-program.

The RLS Foundation is dedicated to improving the lives of men, women and children who live with restless legs syndrome (RLS, also known as Willis-Ekbom disease). Founded in 1989, the Foundation’s goals are to increase awareness, improve treatments and through research, find a cure for RLS. The Foundation serves healthcare providers, researchers, over 4,000 members and an estimated seven million individuals in the United States and Canada who have RLS. The RLS Foundation Research Grant Program has awarded $1.6 million over the past 19 years to fund medical research on RLS causes and treatments. For more information, visit www.rls.org.