Neurosciences
At Providence General Foundation - Everett
Time is Brain
People with neurological diseases and disorders such as Alzheimer’s, seizures, brain tumors and chronic neck and back pain often require specialized, complex care. Unfortunately, many currently have to travel outside our community to receive it. At very least, these patients often must see a variety of specialists in various locations to get the comprehensive care their debilitating, even life-threatening conditions require. Providence will build out space in the 1717 Building to bring together neurologists, neurosurgeons, physiatrists, pain medicine specialists and behavioral specialists. Having extraordinary providers in the same building and working together means the best and brightest can consult, coordinate care and deliver the best patient outcomes. It’s also convenient for patients to get all of their care in one place.
When it comes to stroke, a well-known saying among doctors is “time is brain.” Minutes matter. A minute can make the difference between life and death. A minute can make the difference between someone you love making a full recovery from stroke, or losing their ability to speak, walk or be “themselves.” That’s why we don’t want any stroke patient to lose time going all the way to Seattle for emergency care. When the clock is ticking –when time is brain—having local, excellent stroke care is crucial. In early 2020, thanks to donor support, Providence Everett began offering a certain type of procedure for stroke, called a catheter-based thrombectomy. Patients are no longer taken to a Seattle-area hospital for advanced care.
Providence is continuing to invest in neurosciences to offer the most up-to-date treatments available for all types of brain and spine illnesses and conditions.
Planning for a Comprehensive Neurosciences Institute
Our Impact
Providence is continuing to invest in neurosciences to offer the most up-to-date treatments available for all types of brain and spine illnesses and conditions.
Elevating Stroke Care
We are elevating Providence’s nationally-recognized, award-winning stroke program by adding the technology and specialists who can perform catheter-based thrombectomies to remove blood clots from the brain with a tiny catheter and restore blood flow. Because of donor support we are now able to treat every kind of stroke quickly at Providence Everett—any day, around the clock.
Enhancing Surgical Capabilities
Providence has already purchased and begun using the state’s first robotic guidance system for spinal and neurosurgery. This technology guides surgeons to place rods or screws into bone with more than 99% accuracy, safely sparing major blood vessels, nearby nerves or other structures of the spine while reducing blood loss, scar tissue, radiation exposure and post-operative pain.
Research and Education
We are working to develop a robust Neurosciences research program designed to bring clinical trials to our community and give our patients access to experimental or new care pathways. We will also develop a comprehensive education and outreach program to lower the impact of neurological diseases and disorders in the community.
New Robotic Technology is Transforming Lives
On a Monday morning in December, Shannen Stierwalt grew nearly three inches taller and turned her back on more than 35 years of debilitating pain.
Sound like a miracle? For Shannen, it pretty much was. And the miracle’s name is Mazor X.
The Mazor X robot, along with O-arm and Stealth Navigation, is a robotic spinal navigation system—think of it like a GPS, but for a patient’s spine. The system guides surgeons to place rods or screws into bone with more than 99% accuracy, safely sparing major blood vessels, nearby nerves or other structures of the spine.
“It yields tremendous results with faster recovery, reduced blood loss, lower potential for scar tissue and a trend toward less post-operative pain,” says Orthopedic Surgeon Ali Anissipour, DO, an orthopedic surgeon with Western Washington Medical Group.
Through the ongoing generosity of donors, Providence General Foundation purchased the revolutionary spinal surgery robot, making Providence Regional Medical Center Everett the first in Washington State to use it for complex and challenging spinal surgeries. Shannen’s case was both complex and challenging.
“She had a dramatic deformity,” said Dr. Anissipour.
Shannen was diagnosed with scoliosis, a severe curvature of the spine, when she was 12. It went untreated and got progressively worse. Standing, bending, sleeping—even breathing—hurt. Finally, at 48, she’d had enough. The daily pain had become unbearable.