The National Commission on Sleep Disorders estimates that millions of Americans are needlessly suffering from undiagnosed or misdiagnosed sleep disorders.

In the early 1990's, Dr. William Dement, Director of the Sleep Disorders Clinic and Laboratory at the Stanford University School of Medicine, and Dr. German Nino-Murcia, founder of the Sleep Medicine and Neuroscience Institute in Palo Alto, California, began the "Walla Walla Project" to train primary care physicians to diagnose and treat sleep disorders. As a result of this project, the Kathryn Severyns Dement Sleep Disorders Center at St. Mary Medical Center was established and has subsequently been granted full accreditation by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM). Dr. Dement was raised in Walla Walla, and the Center is named for his mother.

"The Promise of Sleep" is a recently published book by Dr. Dement which explains the vital connection between health, happiness, and a good night's sleep.

Among the list of nationally recognized sleep experts contributing to a book entitled, "Sleep Disorders: Diagnosis and Treatment", are a trio from the Kathryn Severyns Dement Sleep Disorders Center. Doctors Richard D.Simon, Jr., Eric M. Ball, and Jennings C. Falcon, II, are three local physicians who contributed a section on Sleep Disorders in Primary Care Medicine which discusses the concept and implementation of the "Walla Walla Project". The book is edited by J. Steven Poceta, MD of the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, and Merrill M. Mitler, PhD.