COVER FEATURE
Dr. Oppenheim consults with a patient in his Suffern, NY, office.
When Patient Perspective Drives Clinical Care:
Samaritan Regional Medical Center
ACCORDING TO THE SPINE PATIENT OUTCOMES TRIAL, MORE THAN 650,000 SPINAL SURGERIES ARE PERFORMED EVERY YEAR IN THE UNITED STATES. TWENTY YEARS AGO, ONE OF THE PATIENTS UNDERGOING A SPINAL INTERVENTION WAS JEFFREY S. OPPENHEIM, M.D., NEUROSURGEON AT GOOD
SAMARITAN REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER. SINCE ESTABLISHING THE NEUROSURGICAL SPINE PROGRAM AT THE SUFFERN, NY,
HOSPITAL IN 1994, HE AND HIS COLLEAGUES HAVE BEEN GUIDED BY A FIRSTHAND APPRECIATION OF PATIENTS' EXPERIENCES.
6 | Mid Hudson MD NEWS ■ MDNEWS.COM Spine Care at Good Neurosurgical T
HE NEUROSURGICAL SPINAL program at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center offers care for the full scope of spinal
injuries and conditions, from herniated discs to spinal tumors, and includes the care of both acute trauma and degenera- tive diseases. The program is comprised of three neurosurgeons in addition to Dr. Oppenheim: Jeffrey W. Degen, M.D.; G. Alexander Jones, M.D.; and Daniel E. Spitzer, M.D. Each physician contributes a specialized focus, including minimally invasive surgery, spine instrumentation and microsurgery. The team builds an individual-
ized course of treatment — what Dr. Oppenheim describes as "hand- made care" — for each patient. This unique facet of the neurosurgery program is coupled with its reliance on a conservative approach to intervention
PHOTOS © DON DEMPSEY, WHITE LIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY
