Lee Health adds pediatric neurosurgery program

Lee Health is now one big step closer to fulfilling its goal of becoming a full-service children’s hospital by adding a pediatric neurosurgery program.

It took several years and several million dollars in specialized equipment to get to this point.

With the addition of this new specialty, kids who need brain surgery can get the care they need and still stay close to home.

A pediatric neurosurgery program was always part of the plan in building the network around Golisano Children’s Hospital.

Alyssa Bostwick is the chief nurse executive. She explained, “What we take into consideration when building a children’s hospital is all the services that are required in our community. What do our local pediatricians tell us they’re seeing and what they’re needing? What is our community telling us that we need?”

What was needed was the ability to perform brain surgery.

Up to now, kids with brain or spinal tumors, epilepsy or conditions like spina bifida traveled hours for an operation.

And that distance from home creates extra stress for families.

“Sometimes you’re even causing parents to try to choose between work and taking care of their kid, which is a terrible thing for a parent to have to juggle.” said, pediatric neurosurgeon, Dr. T.J. Spinks. “And especially if they have siblings who are still trying to go to school or do their jobs or whatever. That makes the parents’ jobs even tougher. And so it’s a big part of the psychosocial care of the kid, but it affects the medical care heavily as well.”

The addition of Dr. Spinks adds a new option for care, and a deep support team.

Golisano is now in partnership with the Pediatric Neurology Program at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Pete.

“If I see a patient here, that does need a surgery that we can’t do here, either because of equipment issues or something, then I can take them up to All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg and do the surgery there, then bring them back for their aftercare,” he explained.

Lee Health considers this a huge win for Golisano and the people it serves.

Bostwick said, “It was the next big step in allowing us to grow our programs even further and bring other programs here because they really require that specialist to be able to provide that service to our kids. And so it was a big win. It was a very big goal and a lot of hard work to get that here.”

The pediatric neurosurgery program went to work quickly.

The first operation allowed a child with a brain tumor to get the required care and recuperate here at home.