It’s been advised to always have something fun on the books to look forward to.
A vacation, a holiday – or, say, a new Sharp Hospital for Brain and Spine, which was overwhelmingly supported yesterday by Sharp’s Strategic Capital Committee. We held off on our CEO message last week to deliver the news once it was official, and we’re happy to share some of the details with you, as well as a fun rendering, below.
Sharp Grossmont is in the early stages of creating the first hospital in San Diego dedicated to the care of patients needing advanced neurosurgical, neurological and orthopedic-spine expertise in a single center of excellence. Our first step toward creating this specialty hospital started on February 14, 2020, when we received accreditation as a Comprehensive Stroke Center, the highest designation given by The Joint Commission in association with the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. This milestone was key to developing a center dedicated to the best brain and spine care for our community.
Last month, on January 26, the Grossmont Hospital Foundation Board of Directors approved the Foundation to move forward with a $10 million fundraising campaign to raise money toward the Sharp Hospital for Brain and Spine, joining strategic and capital funding plans. All told, the $56.5 million investment will create a full continuum of care for patients requiring these highly specialized services.
Over the next four years, Sharp Grossmont is dedicated to transforming the existing Rehab hospital into the Hospital for Brain and Spine. The success and growth of these advanced programs rests largely on physician recruitment, as well as service line development. Many talented physicians that will be key players in this center have already joined the Grossmont medical staff.
Dr. Ramin Raiszedah is a Sharp Grossmont affiliated orthopedic surgeon who specializes in spinal surgery, as well as non-invasive treatments for common spinal conditions such as herniated discs and sciatica. He is president of the Spine Institute of San Diego, along with Dr. Paul Kim, his practice partner.
Dr. Raiszedeh proactively came to Sharp Grossmont, specifically to be part of this exciting new endeavor. He says he sees the opportunity for SGH and the community as a huge win-win.
“To create a center of excellence that affords people in the county, and outside of it, minimally invasive options to help treat neck and spine in a comprehensive way, means we could offer a value-based, one-stop, comprehensive approach with all of the resources necessary to treat spinal ailments under one umbrella, under Sharp,” says Dr. Raiszedah. In addition, he says an interdisciplinary approach will afford patients the option to utilize non-operative treatments as well, such as physical therapy, injections, acupuncture and yoga.
Sharp Grossmont affiliated neurosurgeon Dr. Vikram Udani is enthusiastic as well, for what the center would mean for his and his colleagues specialties.
“Patients would never have to leave San Diego for neurosurgical care, because we will provide everything here locally,” says Dr. Udani. He says says volume will be able to increase, with the center allowing them to provide more complex neurovascular surgeries, complex brain tumor resections and comprehensive stroke care for more patients.
The addition of the new center will further our ability to offer San Diego communities state-of-the-art treatments for these crucial specialty areas, just as we have with our Comprehensive Stroke Center. There is much work to be done, but the future looks bright indeed!
Yours in Service,
Scott Evans, PharmD, MHA
Chief Executive Officer
