NAPA -- St. Joseph Health System’s Queen of the Valley Medical Center has established the Peggy Herman Neuroscience Center, which officials said will significantly expand services while reducing the need to send patients with acute neurological conditions out of county for care.
Three-story addition to Queen of the Valley fully under way
May 30, 2011
NAPA -- Queen of the Valley’s planned new acute care facility, a 72,000-square-foot, three-story addition that will help the hospital meet state seismic requirements, is under construction. [read more]
Among the services being added or expanded are neurological services such as neurosurgery, rehabilitation and emergency medicine, stroke care, medical imaging and diagnostics.
The new center was made possible, in part, by a gift from The Queen’s Foundation Trustee Tim Herman, who committed $1 million in matching funds, according to Elaine John, chief development officer. “The center is named in memory of his wife, Peggy Guthrie Herman, who passed away in 2007 following a traumatic brain surgery,” Ms. John said.
The new center includes a program that will be led by a neurosurgeon from teaching hospital UCSF Medical Center -- one of the top ranked neuroscience hospitals in the country, according to Queen of the Valley.
“The UCSF faculty is working closely with The Queen to provide comprehensive neurological care for the Napa Valley region,” said Jeffrey Yablon, medical director of the UCSF Neurosurgery Program at the new center.
Acute neurological conditions require immediate, specialized care, the hospital said. With the new center, patients won’t need to be transferred to other facilities.
“For the past five years, most stroke, brain or spine trauma patients requiring surgery in the Napa Valley needed to be transported to facilities over an hour away,” said Walt Mickens, executive vice president and chief operating officer of The Queen. The new center “will now make it possible for those patients to be treated right here in Napa, close to their homes and loved ones.”
Mr. Mickens added that the new Neuroscience Center will complement The Queen’s existing Heart, Cancer and Orthopedic Centers.
