For the Future of

Spine

The Campaign for NewYork-Presbyterian

A doctor examining the back of an elderly individual.

At NYP, We Prevent Spine Issues From Upending Our Patients’ Lives

The human spine is like a building’s central column. It stabilizes and supports all that’s around it, and when it is threatened, everything is at risk. That’s why spinal conditions are a leading cause of disability worldwide.

NewYork-Presbyterian provides expert care to people with spine issues so they can reclaim their lives. And right now, we’re on the cusp of a major revolution in spine care. As our remarkable physicians at NYP Och Spine Hospital advance innovative technologies, create data-driven treatment plans, and serve people of all identities and backgrounds, we’re ushering in a moment in spine care unlike any other—a moment when children and adults alike with severe, debilitating conditions get thrilling new opportunities to enjoy their lives.

New opportunities to walk, run, and play outside. New opportunities to return to the work they love. New opportunities to hold their family members close.

With your support, we can offer our best-in-class approach to spine care across more communities. We can create surgical technologies and techniques that break new ground in the field of spine care. And we can deliver customized, minimally invasive treatments that help our patients get back to their lives and their loved ones.

Learn more about the campaign

NYP: Delivering Comprehensive Spine Care for All

At Och Spine—the largest, most comprehensive spine care program in the country, leading the way in treating conditions of the spine and back with a truly holistic approach—top physicians from our Ivy League medical partners, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and Weill Cornell Medicine, work together to deliver highly skilled care to patients representing a wide variety of ailments, ages, and backgrounds. Our unparalleled expertise and collaboration are driving us toward a thrilling future in spine health and well-being.

The key to spine care is really thinking beyond just surgery. Of the many patients who have back, spine, or neck issues, only about 5 percent will end up needing surgery. We take care of spine patients by working with colleagues, using data, and talking to the patient to come up with decisions that are in their best interests. As a result, the diagnosis and treatment are more accurate, and surgeries become less invasive, more precise, and ultimately safer. For those who need surgery, you want to have the best possible surgical solution.”

Roger Härtl, MD

Hansen-MacDonald Professor of Neurological Surgery

Director of Spinal Neurosurgery, Weill Cornell Medicine

Neurosurgical Director, Och Spine at NewYork-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center

Director, Och Spine at NewYork-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center

Founder, Weill Cornell Medicine Tanzania Neurosurgical Initiative

Nearly everyone will suffer from a spine problem at some point in their life—and Och Spine is becoming the place for spine care. It’s a high-level program backed by a tremendous hospital system, outstanding supporters, and top-ranked medical schools. We treat every spine condition—simple to complex, kids to adults. As we expand our footprint to Hudson Yards, we’re poised to become our nation’s premier center for spine care.”

Lawrence G. Lenke, MD

Co-Director, Och Spine

Surgeon-in-Chief, NewYork-Presbyterian Och Spine Hospital

Professor of Orthopedic Surgery

Chief of Spinal Deformity Surgery in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons

We’re on the Brink of Something Big in Spine Care

Because the spine is an intricate combination of many different tissues—bones, nerves, discs, and more—spine care is a complex and fascinating field. As our physicians lead robust research and treat a large and diverse pool of patients, they are learning more every day about how people can recover from difficult spine injuries, diseases, and disorders. And right now, we are poised to make a bigger impact on the field of spine care than at any other point in history.

Our vision is to set a new standard for the treatment of spine issues, giving a new lease on life to countless people with painful neck and back conditions. We’re ready to seize Och Spine’s full potential, building on its extraordinary combination of top-ranked talent, technology, and facilities, and distinguishing it as one of the world’s best comprehensive spine care programs—and with your investment, we will.

We will offer holistic, multidisciplinary health assessments to our patients, bringing together multiple data sources, the power of AI, and teams of seasoned experts across subspecialties to carefully diagnose each individual.

We will conduct groundbreaking research that illuminates the risks and benefits of and the options for various treatment approaches so our patients can make informed medical decisions.

We will serve all people, treating individuals of every race, gender, age, and background through tailored care plans that leverage the latest technologies and treatments.

We will transform the way that people receive spine care at NYP and all around the world.

NYP: Pioneering Next-Generation Spine Care

Nichole Thomas with Dr. Lenke and her care team

Nichole

At 16, Nichole Thomas suffered a cheerleading injury that changed her life. Thomas fell from the top of a three-tier human pyramid and fractured her spine. This event was the catalyst for a scoliosis diagnosis and a long healthcare journey: over 15 surgeries, several blood clots, misdiagnoses, and years of intense nausea and debilitating pain in her spine, pelvis, and both legs.

They are not just incredible doctors—they are incredible humans,” says Thomas.

Read Nichole’s full story

In 2017, Thomas and her husband felt they had exhausted their options near their home in Southaven, Mississippi. Thomas recalls her husband urging her to see the “best spine surgeon in the country”—Dr. Lawrence Lenke at NewYork-Presbyterian.

Dr. Lenke performed surgery to help straighten Thomas’s back, providing more mobility and less pain. “It was an amazing process, from the initial phase of treatment until I was released from the hospital,” says Thomas.

A year later, Thomas could barely hold her head up—her cervical vertebrae were about to collapse. Thomas came back to NYP, and Dr. Lenke and Dr. Daniel Riew, who specialize in the cervical spine, devised a plan and performed immediate surgery to stabilize Thomas’s neck.

Four weeks later, Thomas blacked out and fell in the shower. Scans revealed a skull fracture. Soon, a team of about 15 surgeons were reviewing her case, including Dr. Lenke and Dr. Riew.

Thomas decided to travel to New York for her next surgery. It was a risk to fly, but Thomas wanted to be at NYP.

Thomas’s injury was unique: The bone had fractured in a way more common in children. Dr. Lenke performed a halo traction procedure on an adult for the first time, and Dr. Ronald Lehman, Jr. performed a cervical fusion. One screw kept Thomas from being paralyzed.

Today, she is walking around freely, feeling happy and healthy.

“It took 10 years and eight months of day in and day out pain, but now this is such a beautiful ending,” says Thomas.

Nichole Thomas at Och Spine Hospital

We’re Creating Tomorrow’s Spine Care

By uniting the best spine care physicians, techniques, and technologies within Och Spine’s uniquely collaborative and innovative environment, NYP is providing expert care that patients can’t get anywhere else—and transforming the lives of many people with challenging spinal conditions.

At NYP, we’re working toward a future where we have a single system that unites all the amazing technologies we use. You’ll come to Och Spine knowing you’ll get a great surgeon and a skilled team that uses the most objective measures of any hospital in the world. Integrating all of this requires investment in both infrastructure and research so we can ensure that what we’re doing is making a huge difference.”

Ronald A. Lehman, Jr., MD

Chief of Spine Surgery and Director for Adult and Pediatric Spine Fellowship, NewYork-Presbyterian Och Spine Hospital

Professor of Orthopedic Surgery, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons

The spine is, in many ways, the most complex of all orthopedic surgical subspecialties. I am often referred to for patients who have the most complex cervical spine problems. My practice is exclusively limited to the operative treatment of the cervical spine, the only such practice in the U.S. and one of only a handful in the world. Procedures range from minimally invasive microsurgical outpatient procedures to the most complex revision and deformity correction. We are able to make an enormous difference in the lives of all patients who visit Och Spine at NewYork-Presbyterian.”

Daniel Riew, MD

Professor of Orthopedic Surgery, Neurological Surgery, Department of Neurological Surgery, Weill Cornell Medicine

Professor of Orthopedic Surgery, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons

Co-Director, Och Spine

Through Philanthropy, We’ll Take Spine Care to a Whole New Level, Bringing Renewed Vigor to Many More People With Painful Conditions

Investment Priorities

Increasing Access to World-Class Spinal Care

Extending Och Spine throughout NYP—bringing the nation’s largest, most comprehensive spine program to more patients across Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, Westchester, and beyond
Creating a one-of-a-kind hub for cervical spine and spinal trauma at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, where top-ranked doctors will provide innovative and customized care for some of the most complex challenges in spine care
Establishing an outpatient spine care hub in The Spiral at Hudson Yards—a full-service, 50,000-square-foot same-day treatment center with all the testing, physical therapy, and procedure spaces needed to bring pain-free futures to many more people

Driving Patient-Centered Care Through Leading-Edge Technologies

Offering highly individualized medicine, providing state-of-the-art single-patient rooms, and leveraging innovations like AI to determine patient-specific risks, predict surgical outcomes, and develop personalized spine treatment plans
Performing more maximally precise, minimally invasive spine surgeries by bringing together advanced technologies, including robotics, navigation systems, and augmented reality, and offering them in more operating spaces

NYP is investing in the technology of tomorrow and bringing together leaders in their fields to develop breakthrough techniques. At Och Spine, we use enabling technologies to provide expert spine care—from robotics and navigation to predictive analytics and AI. And our neurosurgeons and orthopedic surgeons regularly collaborate to develop multidisciplinary treatment approaches and share complex cases with one another. This approach ensures excellent training for our fellows and more creative thinking for all of us.”

Joseph M. Lombardi, MD

Orthopedic Spine Surgeon, NewYork-Presbyterian Och Spine Hospital

Assistant Professor of Orthopedic Surgery, NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center

Our Pledge to Patients

We take an interdisciplinary approach to identifying the source of your back or neck pain and any other symptoms you may be experiencing.

Our treatment approach always begins with the least invasive option, depending on the severity of your symptoms.

If surgery is recommended, we will always offer the least invasive surgical option that is safe and effective and that has excellent long-term outcomes.

We will be with you throughout this journey, from diagnosis to treatment to recovery and beyond.

Spine Disorders Stop Many People From Pursuing Their Passions. Together, We Can Help Them Take Back Their Lives.

We will practice precision medicine like never before, uniting experts across orthopedic surgery and neurosurgery.

We can bring the strength of technology to bear on spinal cord injuries, degenerative disc disease, and spinal stenosis.

Join us today to accelerate spine care health and well-being across our communities, helping people of all demographics recover from spine issues and return to normalcy.

For every patient struggling with severe back pain…

For every physician committed to reducing health inequities in spine care…

For every trailblazing surgeon harnessing technology to improve patient outcomes…

Make a difference today.

Donate Now.

Spine

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