Corpus Christi Daily.com July 14, 2008 A New Option for the Brains & Spines of South Texas Neurosurgeon Dr. Mathew Alexander opens South Texas Brain & Spine in Corpus Christi The Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce helped Dr. Alexander celebrate the opening of the South Texas Brain and Spine Institute with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 5:30p.m. on Thursday July 3, 2008 at the new location: 1227 Third Street. Dr. Mathew Alexander has been practicing in the Corpus Christi area for 4 years. He attended Albany Medical School in New York, and then did his general surgery internship at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta and his neurosurgery residency at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee; Dr. Alexander specializes in Degenerative Spine, Spinal Deformity and Tumor-Infection. Neurosurgeon Dr. Mathew Alexander opens South Texas Brain & Spine in Corpus Christi Neurosurgeon Dr. Mathew Alexander opens South Texas Brain & Spine in Corpus Christi Neurosurgeon Dr. Mathew Alexander opens South Texas Brain & Spine in Corpus Christi Neurosurgeon Dr. Mathew Alexander opens South Texas Brain & Spine in Corpus Christi Neurosurgeon Dr. Mathew Alexander opens South Texas Brain & Spine in Corpus Christi Neurosurgeon Dr. Mathew Alexander opens South Texas Brain & Spine in Corpus Christi Neurosurgeon Dr. Mathew Alexander opens South Texas Brain & Spine in Corpus Christi Neurosurgeon Dr. Mathew Alexander opens South Texas Brain & Spine in Corpus Christi     (Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce)   Corpus Christi Daily.com July 12, 2008 A New Option for the Brains & Spines of South Texas Neurosurgeon Dr. Mathew Alexander opens South Texas Brain & Spine in Corpus Christi. Corpus Christi, TX…  Tumor-Infections, Spinal Deformity and Degenerative Spines all have a new option for treatment in South Texas thanks to Dr. Mathew Alexander.  The Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce will help Dr. Alexander celebrate the opening of the South Texas Brain and Spine Institute with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 5:30p.m. on Thursday July 3, 2008 at the new location:  1227 Third Street. Dr. Mathew Alexander has been practicing in the Corpus Christi area for 4 years.  He attended Albany Medical School in New York, then did his general surgery internship at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta and his neurosurgery residency at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee; Dr. Alexander specializes in Degenerative Spine, Spinal Deformity and Tumor-Infection. He is a member of the following associations:  AANS-CNS Section on Disorders of the Spine, American Association of Neurological Surgeons, Congress of Neurological Surgeons, and North American Spine Society.  His hospital affiliations include Spohn Shoreline, Spohn Memorial, and Corpus Christi Medical Center (Doctors Regional) and has affiliations with Texas A&M.     Dr. Alexander provides excellent cutting edge comprehensive adult neurosurgery.  His practice ranges from minimal invasive endoscopic microdiscetomy to complex spinal fusion/deformity corrections in the cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine.  He also has expertise in spinal tumors and Brain Lab Computer Assisted spinal surgery.  Other interests include cranial surgery and deep brain stimulation, Peripheral nerve surgery (Carpal tunnel surgery), pain pumps/pain stimulators and Kyphoplasty.  Dr. Alexander recently began using autologous (from patients own bone marrow) stem cell to promote higher healing rates and fusion rates.      For more information about Dr. Alexander, visit the South Texas Brain and Spine Institute at 1227 Third Street or call 883-4323.  The South Texas Brain and Spine Institute is a proud member of your Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce. (Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce)

Corpus Christi Caller-Times (TX)

Corpus Christi Caller-Times (TX) August 29, 2004 Corpus Christi hospitals recruit New Blood Author: Leanne Libby, Caller-Times Section: Business Page: D1 After four years of searching for a neurosurgeon, the Corpus Christi medical community found Dr. Mathew Alexander.Fresh from a residency program in Wisconsin and looking at a bull market that included a generous offer in that state, Alexander, 33, chose a less lucrative deal in Corpus Christi. His brother, Thomas, is a cardiologist here, and the area seemed like a nice town and a good place to marry and raise a family when he's ready. Physicians such as Alexander are beginning to look at the Coastal Bend as a viable job market more so than in the past. According to Christus Spohn Health System records, 30 physicians have moved to the area this year, an increase of about 10 from last year. Driscoll Children's Hospital has recruited six new doctors, and Corpus Christi Medical Center has recruited 31. Most doctors practice at multiple hospitals. The health-care community is encouraged, and attributes the influx to a combination of tort reform, recruitment efforts and the natural appeal of the Gulf Coast. Business leaders say more doctors can equal more services for patients as well as a stronger economy. From his residency program in Wisconsin, Alexander kept a wary eye on Texas. If Proposition 12, which limited malpractice lawsuit award amounts, hadn't passed, he said, he would not have come. "I'm here to take care of patients, not worry about the legal ramifications of my practice," he said. "Practicing defensive medicine is expensive and doesn't provide good care. I know a lot of doctors are really bitter about it." Alexander said physicians choose their locations carefully, because they are reluctant to pull up stakes once they open a practice. "If you put a lot of time and energy into a location, you're highly unlikely to move," said Alexander, who estimates he will be working 80 to 100 hours a week. "We work extremely hard at establishing ourselves, and moving is hard on a practice and on your family." Doctors who stay can be good for the local economy, according to local business leaders. Ron Kitchens, president and CEO of the Corpus Christi Regional Economic Development Corporation, said he was having breakfast recently with Kathryn McDonagh, president and CEO of Christus Spohn Health System, when she mentioned she wanted to recruit 100 physicians. "I got to thinking, what's that worth to us?" Kitchens said. "You tend to go in a doctor's office and there's a nurse or two, a receptionist and clerical staff but you don't think about the big picture and what that means to the community. You think of them as a sole practitioner but really they're a small business." A report prepared by Impact DataSource in Austin for the local economic development corporation estimates that one physician could create $800,000 in revenue and support five employees. Adding the indirect jobs and salaries supported by the needs of a doctor's office, the revenue jumps to $1,685,360 and seven jobs. The report was prepared using estimated figures for factors such as a physician's annual revenues and income, office equipment and staff salaries. Kitchens said doctors' offices are often thought of as retail enterprises but he likens them more to the manufacturing industry. "Sixty percent of all revenue from physicians is transfer payments from insurance or government, money that wouldn't be here if the doctor wasn't here," he said. "That money is paid here in wages and in taxes, so it's a real growth area for us." Kitchens said a renewed emphasis on medical education at the universities and the hospitals may also be a powerful draw for doctors and other medical professionals. "We won't capture every student who goes through these programs," he said. "But if we don't do anything, we're for sure not going to get them." Gene Guernsey, who has been practicing real estate in Corpus Christi for 19 years, said he and his colleagues have seen a noticeable increase in physicians new to town this year. Guernsey said his home sales to physicians have increased 26 percent since this time last year. "A few years ago, less than two, we saw physicians leaving the area and selling their houses," he said. "Now we see more coming in than leaving." Guernsey said he has met more specialists than general practitioners. Guernsey, who also works with several area employers taking job candidates around the area, said the number of engineers, for example, on his tours has remained steady but tours for physicians have increased. The influx brings a real estate challenge, Guernsey said, in that the area does not have a large number of high-end homes on the market. "When people want houses in the $400,000 to $500,000 range, their choices are limited," he said. Homes in that price range, he said, tend to be in the Kings Crossing, Ocean Drive and island areas. Decrease in lawsuits Dr. Richard Davis, vice president of medical affairs for Christus Spohn Health System, said the hospital system is encouraged by the slow but steady increase in interest physicians are showing in the area. "There was a time when they would say, 'Practice in Texas? No way.'" Davis said. "In the mind of physicians, there was a perception that this area had a high number of liability cases and plaintiff-friendly juries. (Tort reform) has made the biggest difference, especially in higher-risk specialties where the person's outcome may not be good no matter what you do." Gov. Rick Perry, speaking at a news conference Tuesday at Driscoll Children's Hospital, said medical liability reforms are beginning to help the industry, citing statistics such as a 70 percent decrease in medical liability lawsuits and lawsuits filed against hospitals since tort reform was passed last year. In addition to tort reform, Davis said Spohn's capital improvement plan is directly linked to physician recruitment. "There's no question physicians want to practice using state-of-the-art equipment and technology in a modern, comfortable, patient-friendly facility with colleagues who have high abilities," he said. Spohn plans renovations As part of their effort to recruit more doctors and improve patient care, Christus Spohn Health System is proposing a $131 million improvement plan, including extensive renovations to the 40-year-old building that houses Christus Spohn Hospital Memorial. Recruitment goals, Davis said, are formed in part by looking at the number of physicians in relation to the population, and how the population will change over time. In the Coastal Bend, for example, Davis said the 45-64 age group is the fastest-growing, with 65 and older close behind. Pinpointing such age groups can show planners what kinds of physicians might be needed most. Meanwhile, the medical community is aging, and stressed doctors are retiring earlier, Davis said, adding to the need to recruit more doctors. Internal medicine, surgery and obstetrics remain high priorities but Davis said there's more to recruitment than finding a physician who practices in a high-need area. "Corpus Christi is a nice area," he said. "Certainly for the kind of person who likes outdoor sports, hunting and fishing ... We don't just want to get a physician to come but one who matches up with the lifestyle and culture and who will stay." Some drawbacks remain Dr. Vicente Juan, a general surgeon and president of the Nueces County Medical Society, is not as optimistic. "We lost five or six surgeons last year," Juan said. "That's 25 percent of the workforce." Juan said Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements make it difficult for doctors to make a good living in the area, where it's not unusual for 70 percent of a patient's costs to be covered by Medicaid. Reimbursement times and rates make moving to an area where patients are less reliant on government-funded care attractive. Add the availability of more cultural and dining options in bigger cities, Juan said, and recruiting becomes a formidable task. "We also have a high rate of taxation, insurance is expensive and employees are expensive," he said. However, Juan said physicians have seen a noticeable drop in lawsuits since the tort reform, which will help foster a positive environment for doctors. "It used to be every two or three months we would see eight or 10 (lawsuits)," he said. "Now we might see one or two." Still, Juan said, more needs to be done to improve morale and wages before Corpus Christi becomes a competitive job market for physicians. "It used to be you worked hard and weren't appreciated but you could make good money," he said. "But if you work hard, aren't appreciated and you aren't making good money, it's going to change medicine as we know it." Graphic: A doctor's economic impact Annual local revenues, jobs and salaries supported by a physician: Revenues Jobs Salaries Direct $800,000 5 $370,000 Indirect/induced $885,360 2 $229,631 Total $1,685,360 7 $599,631 Source: Impact DataSource Caption: Dr. Mathew Alexander (center), a neurological surgeon, takes off the hat of Maria Gloria Meza to see how she is healing after surgery for a brain tumor as Meza's daughter observes. Alexander is one of an increasing number of physicians who are choosing to practice in Corpus Christi. Credit: Mayra Beltran/Caller-Times Dr. Mathew Alexander (left) walks with his patient George Rodriguez and physical therapist Sheri Hamit during his daily morning visit at Christus Spohn Hospital Memorial. Credit: Mayra Beltran/Caller-Times Copyright (c) 2004 Corpus Christi Caller-Times Record Number: 0400318755:

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Man set for new lumbar disc Athlete scheduled for first artificial disc replacement in Coastal Bend Author: Leanne Libby, Caller-Times Section: A Page: A1 Travis Longanecker's goals used to include professional cycling. At one point, he and his wife, Kristi, basically lived out of a beat-up Volkswagen van, using a waffle iron and a box of Bisquick baking mix to keep themselves fueled between his races. Years of cycling and the triathlons Longanecker took up to cross-train for cycling races took their toll, compounding what doctors suspect was a congenital weakness or an old injury, and leaving him with a bad back. And that's putting it mildly. Ten years ago, Longanecker said, his back went out about once a year. Then it went out once every six months. For the past five years, he said, it has gone out about once a month. On Tuesday, Longanecker, 36, is scheduled to receive the first artificial lumbar disc replacement in the Coastal Bend, benefiting from a treatment that was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in October. It's a surgery the Port Aransas Brundrett Middle School principal has been anticipating for six years, and one he hopes will put him back in recreational racing form. A disc, said neurologist Mathew Alexander, who will perform the surgery, is basically a hydrated cushion between the vertebrae. Longanecker has a disc that has essentially lost its cushioning ability, leading to pain. No jogging now "If I jogged 100 yards now," Longanecker said, "I would be laid up for two weeks." Alexander said he expects the surgery to take about three hours. "We will go in near the belly button, around the stomach and remove the diseased disc," he said. "Then we size up which prosthesis to insert." The artificial disc comes in more than 20 sizes, Alexander said, allowing him to make a selection based on issues such as the amount of space for the disc and Longanecker's height. Alexander said the surgery is ideal for a young, active patient such as Longanecker. He hopes to perform the surgery on two more patients soon. Before the artificial disc, the only surgical option for patients such as Longanecker was spinal fusion. "If you fuse," Alexander said, "You are eliminating the range of motion. This promotes degeneration above the area, and for about 15 percent of patients, you're looking at additional surgery in 10 to 15 years." Previous attempts to find relief from the pain led Longanecker to get a master's degree in sports medicine. He designed his own physical therapy regimen. He went through several physical therapists. In the end, all the exercises to strengthen his core muscles only helped so much. Sitting for long periods hurts. So does standing. Don't even mention sudden movements. Getting out of the beanbag chairs the family uses for movie night is agonizing. Constant backache On his good days, he has a constant, dull backache. For an athlete who was one level within striking distance of turning professional, the decline is depressing. He and Kristi love to do outdoor activities with their children, Cole, 7, and Hattie, 4, but Longanecker's back has placed limits on what they can do. He tried surfing with Cole a few weeks ago, and falling off his board was almost more than he could bear. "Cole is getting to an age when he is more involved in outdoor activities," Longanecker said. "I want him to be able to see his dad as an active person." Three years ago, Longanecker's doctor in Amarillo offered to perform spinal fusion surgery. It was a tempting way to ease the pain but Longanecker had heard about the artificial disc and the potential for preserving more of his natural movement and wanted to hold out if he could. Shortly after moving to Port Aransas in 2004, he met Alexander, who said Longanecker was a perfect fit for the procedure that was beginning to be performed in cities across the country. According to the Food and Drug Administration, about 200,000 Americans undergo lumbar surgery each year. Dr. Michael Bolesta, associate professor of orthopedic surgery at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, said the artificial disc represents great progress in back surgery, but said it will help only a small portion of the people who suffer from back pain. Many suffer back pain "The number of people with back pain is enormous," Bolesta said. "About 70 percent of adults will have at least one episode of disabling back pain. Most folks like that don't need disc replacement. This is for people with chronic, disabling back pain who have failed on other treatments." For those who qualify for the disc replacement, Bolesta said, pain relief varies. Spinal fusion generally cuts pain in half. Disc replacement, he said can have the same result but patients with the new procedure can get to that level of pain relief faster and have more mobility than those who undergo fusion. Bolesta said disc replacement is akin to a hip or knee replacement although the disc replacement is likely to last longer since the back does not generally take the wear and tear of a joint. That longevity is important, Bolesta said, because the surgery takes place near major arteries and the resulting scar tissue could make doctors reluctant to perform a replacement more than once. Disc replacement is also expensive. Bolesta estimated the artificial disc's cost at about $10,000 to $12,000. Covered by insurance Longanecker's insurance will cover the procedure after he pays his deductible. With all the plans in place, he is already setting goals for his recovery. He wants to be out of the hospital in three days. He wants to be back at work within a week. Alexander said Longanecker would have to avoid vigorous activity for six weeks and not lift anything heavier than five pounds but he could be back on his bike within weeks and gradually add activities until he gets back to the active lifestyle he used to enjoy. Undergoing major surgery in his 30s is daunting, Longanecker said, but the potential rewards give him courage. "I want to go back to biking," he said. "I want to grow old adventure racing. I want to do an Ironman (triathlon) when I'm 70." His dream for this fall, he adds, is to lace up his running shoes and take off down the beach. Graphic: ARTIFICIAL DISC REPLACEMENT Spinal fusion surgery can relieve pain and provide stability. Vertebrae surrounding the disc space are immobilized, however, and limit flexibility in that area of the spine. The new artificial disc design allows the spine to move. Spinal canal Cervical Thoracic Lumbar spine Vertebrae Artificial disc allows spine to move Degenerative Disc Disease * Soft discs between each bone allow your back to move and bend. * If discs are injured or wear out they cannot function normally and may cause pain or limit your daily activities. * This can produce a condition that is called degenerative disc disease. Source: CHARITÉ Artificial Disc; www.charitedisc.com Credit: Caller-Times Graphic: BACK FACTS $10,000 to $12,000 Estimated cost of the artificial disc 200,000 Number of Americans who undergo lumbar surgery each year according to the Food and Drug Administration Caption: Planning return to activities Travis Longanecker shows his daughter, Hattie, 4, an image of his spine. Copyright (c) 2005 Corpus Christi Caller-Times Record Number: 0500354165: