Saint John Regional Hospital

Neurosurgery throughout Atlantic Canada

Saint John Neurosurgery
Saint John Regional Hospital, South East Regional Health Authority
Saint John, NB

The bulk of practice in the Department of Neurosurgery at the Saint John Regional Hospital is in general adult neurosurgery, with several areas of expertise and interest. Saint John Regional is the largest tertiary and general hospital in New Brunswick, and is the Level 1 trauma centre for the province. We collaborate with the Moncton neurosurgical group to provide neurosurgical services to the entire province.

Our department is strengthened substantially by dedicated neuroscience nurses including our neurosurgical case manager that aids in the care of our patients with special responsibility for patient and family relationships, clinical nurse specialist that coordinates our intrathecal spasticity program, and our research coordinator.

Saint John Neurosurgery is a major affiliate with the Dalhousie Atlantic Canadian Neurosurgery Residency Program. A rotation in Saint John is a mandatory part of the residents’ core training. During this rotation residents are exposed to a variety of clinical cases, including operative experience in complex and minimally invasive spine, skull base and cerebrovascular surgery. Residents also see a variety of trauma, neuro-oncology and radiosurgery cases.

Our neurosurgery group is actively involved with Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick, participating in the neuroscience teaching, professional competencies and elective rotations for all four years of undergraduate study. Residents and medical students are also actively involved in neurosurgery research. The Research in Medicine (RIM) program is an example of research collaboration between our department and Dalhousie Medical School.

In research, we actively contribute to the Rick Hansen Spinal Cord Injury Registry and the Canadian Spine Registry, we are a site for many multi-centre trials and studies (like the Diluted Povidone Iodine Irrigation in Spine Surgery trial and the CRASH 2 trial), and we mentor Dalhousie medical students in research projects through RIM and elective programs.

The Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS) program treated its first patient in November 2012. Neurosurgery collaborates with the physicists, technologists and nurses of the Horizon Oncology team, as well the Halifax SRS program, to deliver this service. Patients are referred from all of New Brunswick and are discussed at regular SRS rounds.