March 22, 2019
Dear Patients, Friends, and Colleagues,
It is with mixed emotions that I write to inform you that on August 31, 2019, I will be leaving Baltimore and Greater Baltimore Medical Center. Since 1980, I have been studying the hereditary disorders of connective tissue and caring for patients with genetic disorders in the Baltimore-Washington area. Many of you are not only patients but have been dear friends for many years. It has been my pleasure and privilege to care for you and your families.
I never anticipated that I would leave Baltimore at this late stage in my career. However, I have been offered a faculty position in the Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics at Indiana University, and I believe this move will be a very positive one, for my patients and for me and my husband, who will be retiring at the end of this school year. I will be starting a clinic for Ehlers-Danlos syndromes and hypermobility spectrum disorders at Indiana University Health (IU Health) and will be conducting clinical trials related to these conditions. The depth and breadth of resources at IU is truly astounding, and I believe that there will be many collaborators with whom to build a true multi-disciplinary practice there. At the same time, GBMC is committed to hiring a new geneticist, and it is my fervent hope that the tradition of care for patients with Ehlers-Danlos syndromes and related disorders at GBMC will continue long after I have left.
If you are currently a patient of mine or have an appointment scheduled in the future, you will be receiving a letter telling you how to schedule an appointment with IU Health, if you wish to do so. I will be offering both in-person and telehealth appointments from IU Health. The clinic staff in Indiana is committed to rescheduling patients as close to previously scheduled appointments as possible.
Change is always difficult, but I truly believe this will be a great move for all of us. I am deeply appreciative of the tremendous support that The Ehlers-Danlos Society and all of you have given me these many years.
Very sincerely yours,
Clair A. Francomano, MD
