Three neurosurgeons join St. John’s;
Spine Center to open in 2004

St. John’s Health System’s plan to offer comprehensive neurological services, including a one-stop treatment center for patients with spine problems, was solidified with the hiring of three neurosurgeons over the summer.

Alan Scarrow, MD, JD, who chairs St. John’s neurosurgery section, and colleagues Bassam Hadi, M.D., and Sunghoon Lee, M.D., in August opened their practice in suite 1800 of
St. John’s Fremont Medical Building in Springfield.

“The centerpiece of St. John’s neuroscience services will be the St. John’s Spine Center, a multidisciplinary, comprehensive center that will include orthopedists, neurologists, neurosurgeons, chiropractors, physical therapists, occupational medicine specialists, physiatrists and physical rehabilitation specialists, psychologists and pain control specialists, all in one location,” Scarrow says.

After a patient is referred to the Spine Center, they will be evaluated, diagnosed and treated there.
St. John’s integrated, comprehensive approach to spine care with the new Spine Center is unique to the region, Hadi says.

“Spine problems affect just about everyone as they get older. They are medically and technologically complex in both diagnosis and treatment; they can be quite disabling and expensive to treat,” Hadi says. “St. John’s Spine Center will be unique in that it will include a variety of specialties and disciplines to provide comprehensive, integrated spine care. I believe there’s only one other center of its kind in the nation.”

Scarrow graduated from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland with a medical degree and a law degree. He completed his neurosurgery residency at University of Pittsburgh, Veterans Administration Hospital of Pittsburgh and a Congress of Neurological Surgeons Charles Plante Public Policy Fellowship in Washington, D.C.Lee completed his medical degree and neurosurgery residency at Yale University, where he received numerous academic and community honors.

During his residency, Lee was named a fellow of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons Research Foundation, and was awarded a two-year research grant for his work on the hippocampus. Lee’s clinical interests include intracranial aneurysms, vascular malformations, primary and metastasis brain tumors and minimally invasive spine surgery.

Hadi comes to St. John's from Neurosurgery and Neurology Associates in Akron, Ohio. He graduated from St. Louis School of Medicine and completed a neurosurgery residency at the University of Louisville and a fellowship at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Scarrow and St. John’s orthopedist Todd Harbach, M.D., who will also practice at the Spine Center, will serve as the Spine Center’s medical directors. Harbach is fellowship-trained in spine surgery and is the only orthopedist in the region with such training, Scarrow says.

"By combining the knowledge, skill and technology of the different specialties and medical disciplines, we create a synergy allowing us to offer more and do more for St. John's patients," Scarrow says.