The Netherlands is a small country and yet there are 7 cf-centers. Wherever you go, you can always reach one within a 2 hours’ drive or less by car. So in that respect there is a lot of choice. I could choose between 5 centers from where I live within that distance.
But as things go, one tends to visit the closest center to minimize travel effort. Also, in case of a hospital stay, it is easier for my loved-ones if the hospital is nearby.
There was a time that I did not want to be in such dedicated cf center because of infection risk. This was before cross-infection and segregation was an issue officially, but it was for me. So I choose a pulmonologist in an academic hospital that was not an official cf center, who was specialized in cf nonetheless. I did not run the risk of bumping into another cf patient there. And it was even closer to my home and work (a 20 minutes’ walk). Mostly I only need a pulmonologist. For my sinus problems I found a specialist in another smaller hospital nearby, who invented a special surgical technique for that which allowed me to be operated on without general anesthesia.
Nowadays after moving to another area of the country I do visit a cf center that is nearby (half an hour’s drive), because nowadays segregation is common practice and not an issue anymore. I feel taken care of reasonably well, although that might of course change in time. Doctors and nurses come and go. I don’t like changing my specialist so when my last pulmonologist left the center for a better job in Germany, I did not like that at first. Fortunately, communication mostly takes place through the nurse practitioner who is still the same. And my new pulmonologist is a good guy also, communicative and sympathetic.
I think the idea of a cf center is good in principle, it could lead to more expertise especially in a larger center. On the other hand, in practice it sounds better than it is, because as soon as one needs specialist care other than from your own pulmonologist, specialists still tend to reside on their own little islands even in the same cf center or cf team. Cooperation and communication could still be vastly improved.