It is truly an honor to be named Chief of Neurology at Hartford Hospital and Physician-in-Chief of the Ayer Neuroscience Institute of Hartford HealthCare.
First, I want to thank Dr. Agnes Jani-Acsadi for her leadership, commitment, and hard work in her role as interim Chief of Neurology over the past few years. Her skillful guidance and dedication were instrumental in getting us to the next phase of growth and expansion for our institutions and programs. Please join me in offering our sincere thanks to Agnes as she transitions to her other duties. I also want to acknowledge the many great staff members and partners I have met during my first few months here – your expertise, passion, and dedication are second to none. Your contributions will be a key factor as we grow and expand our programs in the Ayer Neuroscience Institute and at Hartford Hospital.
As faculty and staff dedicated to the Neurosciences, we are fortunate to be practicing in this exciting era of medicine. We have tools at our disposal that allow us to more accurately diagnose patients with various types of neurological and neurosurgical diseases. They include imaging techniques such as high-field strength MRIs, electrodiagnostic devices that we can use to map nerve cells deep in the brain, and molecular testing that can detect abnormal antibodies and mutations that can lead to seizures, dementia and other important disorders. In addition to these improved diagnostic techniques, advanced testing opens the door for more targeted and effective therapies. Now, we can remove a blood clot causing a life-altering stroke, thus returning the patient to normal. Or, we can use new medications to treat a brain tumor.
At the Chase Family Movement Disorders Center, we use electrodes implanted in the brain to reduce tremors in patients with Parkinson’s Disease. Within our our Headache Center, we routinely use injections of Botox to alleviate the pain of chronic headaches. Minimally invasive surgery provides important treatment options for patients with spine and joint diseases. All of these advances have been made in the past few years.
We work in a complex healthcare system, with many facilities, locations, providers and practice patterns. Our challenge is to ensure that any patient accessing our healthcare system in any location will receive a high-level of care that includes an accurate diagnosis and an outline of a treatment plan provided by compassionate providers. Although not every facility can offer all diagnostic or treatment options, we must coordinate care so that patients are triaged to the facility that best suits their medical needs while taking into account medical, geographic, family, and social factors.
Over the coming weeks and months in this newsletter, we plan to keep you informed of the Institute’s progress; share milestones and achievements; and highlight specific practitioners and programs, with a focus on new knowledge that our patients and providers can use to improve care and enhance the quality of life for our patients and their families. Some may be specific new treatments for a highly select group of patients with an unusual or rare disease;Others will be new approaches to delivering care that will apply to many patients in different care settings. We hope you will join us on this journey of discovery as we continue to advance our ability to diagnose and treat diseases involving the brain, spine, and nervous system.