World-Class Spine Surgeons to Establish Program at The Allen
Posted on May 04, 2015
Excerpt from: columbia.edu
From left, Ronald Lehman, MD, Daniel Riew, MD, and Larry Lenke, MD, come to ColumbiaDoctors from Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Three leading spine surgeons will join NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center in July, establishing a comprehensive spine program at the Allen Hospital and treating patients at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia and Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital.
Larry Lenke, M.D., Daniel Riew, M.D., and Ronald Lehman, M.D. come to ColumbiaDoctors from Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. These noted spine experts have worked together for more than 15 years, taking a multidisciplinary approach to spine care that emphasizes both surgical and non-surgical options for conditions from the skull to the sacrum. The team also has conducted groundbreaking research, which has led to numerous advances in the field of spinal surgery.
“Larry, Ron and I have the goal to establish the first spine hospital in North America where we will strive to transform the care of the spine patient to an unprecedented level of excellence while training the future generation of leaders in spine surgery,” says Dr. Riew, a cervical spine specialist who will serve as director of cervical spine surgery at NYP/Allen. “I don’t know of another institution in the entire country that can do what Columbia and NYP have committed to doing.”
Dr. Lenke, who is regarded as one of the premier spinal deformity surgeons in the world and the developer of the Lenke Classification System for Scoliosis, will be surgeon-in-chief of the Spine Hospital at NYP/Allen and director of spinal deformity surgery at NYP/Columbia. “We envision creating a highly specialized entity for spinal surgery patients to receive the best care, focused on their overall needs and safety, along with a top-level experience not only for the patients but for their families and friends coming to assist in their care,” he says. “This type of overall devotion to the comprehensive surgical and nonsurgical care of spine patients has never been attempted in this country prior to this, but we believe will become the envy of not only other New York City hospitals, but all other medical centers across the country as well.
He praises the vision of Department of Orthopedics chair, William Levine, MD, in creating the new spine program. “In his first year as chairman, Bill Levine has recruited three full professors of orthopedic spine surgery from the same institution to Columbia, all at the same time–an unprecedented feat.”
Ronald Lehman, Jr., M.D., has been named director of degenerative and minimally invasive spine surgery at NYP/Allen. Dr. Lehman specializes in cervical disc arthroplasty and replacement, myelopathy, and radiculopathy, as well as pediatric and adult spinal deformities, and minimally invasive applications surgery for spinal deformities. “The vision of all of the leaders in the New York Presbyterian system has been overwhelming,” he says. “Everyone is truly dedicated to making this a Global Center of Excellence for Spine Health/Care, with the patients and their outcomes as the primary focus.”
Read more about plans for the Spine Hospital, and full biographies of Drs. Lenke, Riew, and Lehman here.
