Memory clinics fill as Pittsburgh area seniors seek treatment for early Alzheimer's

By Kris B. Mamula / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Independence Health System’s Memory Clinics in Butler and Greensburg are bulging these days as Western Pennsylvania seniors, desperate for hope, seek testing and treatment for early Alzheimer’s disease.

Screening and new drug therapies at IHS’ Butler and Westmoreland hospitals along with ambitious marketing has increased the number of seniors seeking care from a total of 30 when the services began last November to 30 patients seen every week now, said Mary Elizabeth Kovacik Eicher, director of neurosciences at IHS.

The system is recruiting medical staff to accommodate rising demand, but Dr. Eicher said the clinics are still accepting patients.

“We’re not full,” Dr. Eicher said. “I will always make support available for people who need help.

“There can’t be a ‘no,’ there can’t be a ‘we’re turning you away.’ This is about intervening early and giving hope. If I’m not here giving them a chance, who will?”

Alzheimer’s is a neurodegenerative disease, mostly affecting people over age 65, that is characterized by progressive loss of thinking, memory and reasoning skills resulting in death. Worse, the development of therapies has been frustratingly slow: out of 98 compounds entering Phase II and Phase III clinical trials between 2004 and 2021, only two were successful for a 2% success rate, according to a 2022 study in the Journal of Alzheimer’s disease.

That began to change within the past year when two new drugs were approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Forgetfulness and confusion can be among the earliest signs of the disease, which new brain mapping research suggests happens slowly and silently, fueling the need for early intervention.

IHS was the region’s first health system to target the burgeoning demand for specialized dementia care. The new service line could help ease IHS’ financial problems by getting more patients in the door while addressing an unfolding health crisis in the senior population.

The combined population of IHS’ core service area — Butler and Westmoreland counties — represents a population exceeding 16,000 people over age 65, Census data indicate. 

And the system could use a transfusion: IHS, the fledgling five-hospital system formed in 2023, reported $71.4 million in operating losses for its first 12 months of operation and since then has forecasted operational losses stretching into 2026. A number of cost-cutting measures have been implemented, including staff reductions.

IHS spokesman Tom Chakurda said adding services for Alzheimer’s has been accompanied by “ambitious” marketing in newspaper and television ads. He declined to disclose the marketing budget.

Patients with clinical signs of Alzheimer’s at IHS are offered treatment with lecanemab or donanemab, newly approved drugs that attack amyloid protein plaques in the brain, which have been associated with Alzheimer’s.

Both medications can be risky though, sometimes causing bleeding in the brain and other serious issues. But decisions about whether to be treated medically are for patients and their families in consultation with medical professionals, Dr. Eicher said.

“It’s about giving patients control over what’s happening in their lives,” she said. “What we’re trying to inspire is hope, keeping hope alive.”

Screening for early Alzheimer’s at IHS includes sophisticated PET scanning, which can be costly, or analysis of spinal fluid drawn with a needle, which is often painful. IHS patients have been choosing the lumbar puncture procedure over the PET scan by 3-to-1, said Dr. Eicher, a Blairsville native whose uncle struggles with Alzheimer’s.

All of that will soon change with development of blood tests for early detection as new tests undergo FDA review. Development of a blood test for early Alzheimer’s, which will likely be covered by health insurance after FDA approval, is expected to further accelerate demand for care by greatly reducing screening costs.

Ten percent to 15% of people over age 65 will be candidates for treatment with drug therapy, according to Oscar L. Lopez, director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at the University of Pittsburgh. Even though some medical conditions will limit the number of people who wind up getting treated, the anticipated surge in patients is expected to be big.

“We expect an overflow of patients,” said Thomas Karikari, assistant professor of psychiatry at Pitt, who confirmed accuracy rates exceeding 90% for one manufacturer’s blood test for Alzheimer’s in a new study.

“People definitely will be requesting tests a lot,” he said. “Everyone wants to live better.”