The Beginning of a Movement: How CLIF 2025 and the MAPS Initiative Are Shaping the Future of Limb Preservation

View the full Lower Extremity Review (LER) article below:

https://lermagazine.com/article/the-beginning-of-a-movement-how-clif-2025-and-the-maps-initiative-are-shaping-the-future-of-limb-preservation

Each year, hundreds of thousands of Americans lose a limb due to non-traumatic amputation, most of which could have been prevented. Peripheral artery disease (PAD) and its most severe form, critical limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI), continue to devastate lives, particularly among diabetic, Hispanic, and underserved communities. Yet in El Paso, Texas, a model for change has quietly been building momentum and proving that outcomes can improve when disciplines unite under one coordinated mission.

That model is MAPS: Multidisciplinary Amputation Prevention Services. This is a comprehensive hospital-based/outpatient program designed to bridge specialties, streamline communication, and reduce non-traumatic amputations nationwide. Developed by Dr. Laiq Raja and his multidisciplinary team, MAPS represents nearly a decade of collaboration between vascular specialists, wound-care experts, podiatrists, primary care providers, home health teams, rehabs and many others.

The results have been remarkable. El Paso’s amputation rates have remained 10% lower than the national average, decreasing from 13% to less than 3%. This achievement underscores what is possible when systems of care are reimagined around prevention rather than reaction.

Now, the mission is expanding. In 2026, the MAPS program will hit the road, bringing its roadmap for success to hospitals and clinics across the country. The goal is to empower communities to replicate this multidisciplinary model, create early detection pathways, and offer a “last option” approach to limb preservation.

“When you build bridges between vascular, wound care, podiatry, primary care, endocrinology, and rehabilitation,” says Dr. Raja, “you do not just save limbs, you restore quality of life and dignity.”

This year’s Critical Limb Ischemia Fighters (CLIF) Conference, our fourth annual event, will set the stage for this national rollout. Taking place Saturday, December 6, 2025, the conference will welcome more than 200 healthcare professionals, industry partners, and advocates to El Paso for a day of collaboration, CME-accredited learning, and innovation. Registration is now open at www.limbsaverssociety.org/clif2025.

The theme, “Circle of Care: Multidisciplinary Medicine for Limb Salvage and Amputation Prevention,” captures the heart of the MAPS mission. Attendees will explore topics ranging from new device technologies and endovascular techniques to data-driven care coordination and racial disparities in limb-salvage outcomes.

“Beyond the lectures and live case reviews, CLIF remains a celebration of progress and a reminder that what began as a local initiative is now a growing national movement,” says Alejandra Gutierrez, Outpatient CLI Navigator and Program Liaison. “Our CLI Program, in partnership with Providence Memorial Hospital, has earned the distinction of being the only Joint Commission–accredited Center of Excellence in Peripheral and Vascular Medicine in the United States. The program in El Paso stands as both a destination practice and a beacon of what is possible when collaboration leads the way.”

As we prepare for the MAPS national launch, we invite healthcare leaders, hospitals, and clinicians to join us in rethinking the way we approach limb preservation. Together, we can create systems of care that heal faster, connect deeper, and prevent the preventable.

Because every limb saved is a life restored.

Because this, truly, is just the beginning.

Written by Adrianne Rivas, CLI Program Liaison and Alejandra Gutierrez, Outpatient Navigator in collaboration with Dr. Laiq Raja.