On Wednesday 15th May I took a flight from London to Seattle for a short 2 days trip. Although over the last few years and because of different wok commitments I became accustomed to go on short trips across the pond, this trip was quite different.
My destination in this trip with Kitsap in Washington state to attend the ribbon cutting ceremony of the first free / low cost TMS clinic to be established by the Foundation for Advancement of Clinical TMS (FACTMS).
Before I share with you why this clinic is very close to my heart to the point that I flew across the pond to attend this event I would like first to tell you bit more about FACTMS. FACTMS is quite a young foundation but with great potential. The idea of establishing a foundation to help the advancement of TMS has been lingering in the Clinical TMS Society (CTMSS) for a few years. It was during the presidency of Dr Paul Croarkin of the CTMSS about 7 years ago that the board of directors (BOD) of the CTMSS voted in favour of establishing such foundation. However, it was until the tenure of my dear friend Dr Randy Pardell that the foundation was officially registered.
I became the president of the CTMSS (2022 – 2023) in the year following Randy. On the first day as president of the CTMSS I formed 3 special committees to work on and address 3 crucial issues for our society. One of this committees was dedicated to establishing this foundation and this committee was led by Randy given his strong passion about this foundation and the amazing work he did in this regard during his presidency. Also, during my presidency of the CTMSS our Board of Directors agreed on giving $100,000 as seed money to help the establishment of the foundation and because we have decide that once it is formed it will become a separate organisation from the CTMSS. Fast forward from this day that I formed a special committee for the foundation and after 7 months, FACTMS was fully established and held it’s first board of directors meeting took place in January 2023.
As you might have guessed I was very excited about this foundation and the work we could achieve through it even before it was established. If you ask me what was the main thing that made me excited about FACTMS, without hesitation I would say that this is the possibility of making TMS available to underserved communities and people who can’t pay for this treatment. I guess this is why I suggested that opening free / low cost TMS clinic should be one of the main aims of FACTMS. For the same reason I put my name forward and was chosen by the board of directors to chair the Clinic Expansion Committee that we established in FACTMS.
The main aim of this committee is to establish free or low-cost clinics that would offer TMS to underserved communities in different countries around the world. It was not long after we formed this committee and because of the hard and diligent work of our Executive committee and our Executive Director, FACTMS received a very generous donation from the Neil S Hirsh Foundation to establish our first free / low-cost clinic. We were extremely excited about this donation but FACTMS in general and specially in the Clinical Expansion Committee we were aware of the challenges ahead of us because according to my knowledge this was going to be the first TMS clinic of its kind. We were quite keen to create a clear, objective and transparent processes that would guide us through different steps of establishing this clinic and future similar clinics.
We put a call out for interested individuals, clinics, hospitals, and academic institutions who would like to partner with us on this project and host our first free / low-cost TMS clinics. We received an overwhelming response of more than 50 applications from different countries around the world. We then went through a rigorous selection process and after a thorough interview we selected Kitsap Mental Health services (KMHS) to host our first clinic.
Dr Mohamhed Abdelghani, Ms Anna Taylor: Executive Director of FACTMS
Over the 6 months prior to the opening of the clinic we worked very closely with the outstanding team at KMHS to ensure the success of this clinic. In every stage and step we were reassured that we have taken the right decision by partnering with KMHS who did not spare any effort to set a great example of how our future clinics should operate.
The ribbon cutting event for this clinic took place at KMHS in beautiful Kitsap on 15th May 2024. I flew from London to Seattle for only 2 days to participate in this event and to meet the team on the ground who will be running this service, the majority of whom I only met in online meetings. The event itself was outstanding and very well organised by KMHS and FACTMS executive director, Anna Taylor who has a special talent for attending to every small detail. During the event I gave a short speech in which I shared with the audience a dream, a story and a vision. The dream of being able to establish free and low-cost TMS clinics for underserved communities, the story of this specific clinic and FACTMS vision of opening similar clinics all around the world.
To watch my speech please Click Here to play the video between 8.30 and 12.10
During the ceremony other colleagues and friends from FACTMS and KMHS gave heart-warming passionate speeches about this clinic and how it could transform many lives in the local community. I always think about the board members of FACTMS, that I’m proud to be on of them, as punch of enthusiastic dreamers. However, at the same time all of them are experts in their own fields and they are driven by spirt of philanthropic and altruism. Besides FACTMS board of directors and my dear friends and colleagues in the Clinic Expansion Committee this clinic would not a reality today without the generous donation by the Neil S. Hirsh Foundation, the vision of KMHS and Magstim Medical who donated the first device for this clinic as part of the commitment to advance the field and increase access to TMS.
Looking back, I’m grateful for the timing of writing this blog. Reflecting on the opening of our first free/low-cost TMS clinic is a proud moment, but what excites me even more is what’s coming next. FACTMS remains committed to its mission of expanding access to TMS for underserved communities. What has been achieved through this first clinic and the lessons we’ve learned from its success serve as an inspiring model, motivating us as we work toward creating similar opportunities worldwide. These efforts bring us closer to our vision of making TMS accessible to underserved communities around the world. Stay tuned for more updates as we continue this incredible journey—your support and enthusiasm mean the world to us as we bring these life-changing clinics to life!