Despite the recent influx of younger people to the Hudson Valley, the region's aging community is still growing more quickly than the overall population. This only emphasizes the importance of robust access to healthcare in communities where much of the population is aging in place. When it comes to Columbia and Greene Counties, providing specialized care for older patients is already high on the list of priorities for Hudson-based Columbia Memorial Health.
As part of their partnership with Albany Med, Columbia Memorial Health is now better positioned than ever to serve a community increasingly afflicted by age-related illnesses of the spine. Since the partnership began over a year ago, two neurosurgeons have joined the neurosurgery and spine team at Columbia Memorial Health. Combined with their established pain management program and physical therapy centers, Columbia Memorial Health now offers a full range of spine care, which includes minimally invasive surgery at its Hudson facility.
Dr. John McNulty is a board-certified neurosurgeon with over 20 years of experience and is responsible for introducing minimally invasive spine techniques to the Hudson Valley. He has held leadership positions at various area hospitals. Dr. Vishad Sukul is fellowship-trained in advanced pain procedures. Both surgeons have privileges to operate at Columbia Memorial Health and Albany Med. Their team specializes in treating complex issues like lumbar stenosis, which causes severe leg pain after long periods of standing and cervical stenosis, or wear and tear in the spine often caused by osteoarthritis.
“Our team has much more bench strength today than ever before,” Dr, McNulty says. “Through our partnership, we have easy consultation with our colleagues at Albany Med. Obtaining state-of-the-art spine care no longer requires the long car trips and lengthy waits that are particularly hard on our elderly patients.”
