MANHASSET, N.Y., April 20 /PRNewswire/ — Seeking to become a worldwide destination for patients with brain disorders, the North Shore-Long Island Jewish (LIJ) Health System today announced the establishment of the Harvey Cushing Institutes of Neuroscience, a major initiative with 12 centers of excellence planned in both neurology and neurosurgery.
“The North Shore-LIJ Health System is tremendously honored to be associated with the name of Harvey Cushing, the preeminent name in the history of neurosciences,” said Michael J. Dowling, North Shore-LIJ’s president and chief executive officer. “Because of Dr. Cushing’s unparalleled commitment to surgical excellence and patient care, it is our duty to make the Harvey Cushing Institutes of Neuroscience an international resource for patients and researchers alike.”
To date, North Shore-LIJ has invested more than $50 million in neuroscience programs, including new technologies, infrastructures and top physicians. In the next five years, another $50 million is earmarked for neuroscience. The health system has already solidified its clinical, research and education expertise to establish a Chiari Institute, Movement Disorders Institute and Brain Aneurysm Center. North Shore-LIJ also is developing other institutes to focus on epilepsy, pain, neurodegenerative disorders, brain tumors, spine diseases, neurovascular disease and stroke, neuromuscular and peripheral nerve diseases, pediatric neurosciences, neuroregenerative disorders and neurorehabilitation.
Featuring the most advanced technologies, including the Novalis radiosurgery system, an intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system and a biplane procedure suite used for endovascular surgery, the health system’s neurosurgical programs are carried out primarily at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset and LIJ Medical Center in New Hyde Park. However, many other North Shore-LIJ facilities, including community hospitals and their community-based physicians, are also an integral part of the Cushing initiative. For instance, nine hospitals within the North Shore-LIJ Health System, including six community hospitals, are New York State-designated stroke centers. In addition, spinal surgery, pain management and neurorehabilitation services are also available at various facilities across the health system.
North Shore-LIJ’s neurosciences initiative carries on the legacy of Dr. Cushing (1869-1939), regarded as the greatest neurosurgeon of the 20th century. In 1951, his daughter, Betsey, and her husband, John Hay Whitney, donated the land on which North Shore University Hospital was built. The Whitney’s daughters, Sara Wilford and Kate Whitney, who have long supported medical causes, agreed to lend the name of their legendary grandfather to North Shore-LIJ’s new Harvey Cushing Institutes of Neuroscience.
It is estimated that one in five Americans suffer from a neurological disorder such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s or chronic pain. As the population ages and lives longer, the incidence of neurological disease is expected to rise, with older adults facing the loss of independence, productivity and quality of life. The Harvey Cushing Institutes of Neuroscience will be developed to be a premiere resource for patients in the region and elsewhere seeking the latest treatments in neurology and neurosurgery.
Each institute will offer a comprehensive, multidisciplinary program focused on developing state-of-the-art diagnostic and therapeutic solutions particular to its own unique disease cluster. Each new institute will be staffed by healthcare professionals who are recognized leaders in their neurological/ neurosurgical subspecialties.
“I am proud to be leading such a bold and comprehensive effort in the field of neuroscience,” said Thomas H. Milhorat, MD, chairman of neurosurgery of North Shore University Hospital (NSUH) and LIJ Medical Center, and director of the Harvey Cushing Institutes of Neuroscience. “I am grateful for the confidence that the Cushing family has bestowed on our institution, allowing us to be linked and inspired by the standards set by Dr. Harvey Cushing.”
Dr. Milhorat, who joined the North Shore-LIJ Health System in 2002, received his MD degree in 1961 from Cornell University. While an intern and assistant resident at the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, he was mentored by and began neurological surgery training with Bronson Ray, MD, the last in a prestigious line of neurosurgeons trained by Dr. Harvey Cushing.
Dr. Milhorat is widely regarded as one of the world’s foremost experts on Chiari malformation, a condition in which excess brain tissue pushes against the cerebellum and spinal cord at the base of the skull, disturbing the flow of cerebrospinal fluid. Surgery is the only intervention for this debilitating and painful condition.
For more information on the Harvey Cushing Institutes for Neuroscience, contact: (516) 562-3822, or http://www.harveycushinginstitutes.com/
North Shore-Long Island Jewish (LIJ) Health System
CONTACT: Betty Olt, or Terry Lynam, both for North Shore-Long IslandJewish (LIJ) Health System, +1-516-465-2600
Web site: http://www.harveycushinginstitutes.com/
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