SIH recently completed an expansion of their neurological services. The goal is to provide more neurology care to patients in southern Illinois without having to travel.
SIH has offered neurosurgery services in southern Illinois for more than 20 years. SIH Memorial Hospital in Carbondale added 4 new neurosurgeons to their team of 2. Dr. Marci Moore-Connelly - Chief Medical Officer with SIH says the expansion improves access for patients including more elective and emergency care in the region, "Patients can get in very timely now to see either one of the neurosurgeons quickly, get assessed, get those next steps going, and go to the operating room if they need to."
Neurosurgeon Dr. Dan Kitchens says the investments in staff and technology also add support the hospital's care as a level 2 trauma center. They can help more people locally instead of sending them hours away to regional hospitals, "From a neurosurgical trauma perspective, we can do intracranial hemorrhages, traumatic impacts to the brain, gunshot wounds, those sorts of things, skull fractures. As well as cervical spine fractures that otherwise would have been shipped out somewhere."
Tony Bryant is a Physician's Assistant with the SIH Brain and Spine Institute. He coordinates care for patients throughout the process from arrival, to the operating room, and post surgery treatment. The program's technology is helping doctors specialize the care each patient receives, "We are able to bring in a 3DC arm that registers the patient in the O.R. to that model. We can personalize any type of procedure, whether it's to locate a tumor or do a biopsy in the brain versus in the spine, or we can measure instrumentation and have exact instrumentation measurements for any aspect of spinal care as well."
He says they've been able to provide faster relief through their collaborations with primary care physicians, "We can get them in right away and get them worked up and see where we need to go from there, whether it's, 'Hey, everything's fine. From a surgical standpoint, you don't need surgery, but we understand that you do have significant pain. Let's get you to some of these other modalities. We do have pain management available. We do have neurology services available."
All this work allows Kitchens to do the work he loves, "After surgery, after they recover, and they get back, they can get back to their life. That's meaningful to me, and it really keeps me going."
