Sierra Vista partners with UCSF to improve neurosurgery access in SLO County
.jpg "Sierra Vista’s Phillip Kissel is a neurosurgeon in San Luis Obispo County.")
A San Luis Obispo County health care company has formed a partnership with one of the leading hospitals on neuroscience in the country.
Tenet Health Central Coast — which operates Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center in San Luis Obispo and Twin Cities Community Hospital in Templeton — has affiliated with UC San Francisco Health to “provide access to a nationally-recognized network of neurological and spine care services here on the Central Coast,” Tenet Health said in a news release.
Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center is the only hospital in San Luis Obispo County that offers neurosurgical care.
Dr. Phillip Kissel, Sierra Vista’s director of neurosciences, said via Zoom on Tuesday that the collaboration will allow local doctors to have real-time consultations with UC San Francisco neurosurgeons and experts during surgery.
“It opens up patient care as if we have direct access to a tertiary, world-renowned neurosurgery center in San Francisco,” said Kissel, a clinical professor with UC San Francisco’s Department of Neurosurgery.
UC San Francisco was ranked “Best In The West” on the U.S. News & World Report’s 2020-2021 Best Hospitals list for four specialties, including neurology and neurosurgery.
Currently about 60% of local residents requiring neurosurgical care leave San Luis Obispo County for services, the release noted, adding that the partnership will help more San Luis Obispo County residents remain in the community for care and consultation.
Tenet Health Central Coast responds to neurosurgery needs
Kissel said Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center has four neurosurgeons who are operate on general types of medical needs, such as spinal, tumor, nerve and stroke-related operations.
But UC San Francisco has specialists who can offer expertise in real time during the course of surgeries.
Getting needed treatment quickly, especially after strokes, can be critical for patients who hope to main good quality of life for years to come, Kissel said.
San Luis Obispo County’s aging population is behind the need for in-patient neurosurgery, which is estimated to grow 2.4% per year over next five years, according to Tenet Health officials.
Doctors will conduct health screenings to decide whether treatments can be conducted locally or whether a patient would be better served in San Francisco.
“We do complex neurosurgery in town and in many cases the majority (of patients) need to stay with us here,” Kissel said. “We do the gamut of surgeries including both spine and brain work. ...we’ll decide whether it’s a (Tenet Health Central Coast) problem or UCSF problem, and get on the phone and refer those patients if necessary to get the best care.”
In addition, the two hospitals will share imaging and medical records.
In the future, Tenet Health Central Coast will offer a comprehensive spine treatment center in San Luis Obispo, officials said, although the details and timing of that are still being worked out.
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