Herb Yates came to IU Health 42 years ago fresh out of pharmacy school. Shortly into his career he became interested in the computer side of pharmacy. One of Herb’s career highlights was helping to bring an automated medication dispensing system to IU Health. If fact, in some circles, he’s known and as The Godfather of Pyxis. “That was a nickname bestowed upon me, not only by some of my coworkers, but the company that owns Pyxis themselves,” said Herb, who is looking forward to retiring and handing off his Pyxis knowledge to the younger generation later this year.

After more than 60 years of marriage, you get used to doing things together — including having back surgery in the same week.

Dean Shoff, 87, says he had immediate relief post-surgery for spinal stenosis. Spinal stenosis happens when the space inside the spinal canal shrinks. This puts pressure on the spinal cord and the nerves that travel through the spinal canal. It commonly occurs lower back, which for Dean was in his lumbar spine. The condition is often caused by age-related wear and tear.

Some people have no symptoms. Unfortunately for Dean, that was not the case. After suffering with symptoms for a year and a half, he shares, “I could hardly walk a couple of weeks before the surgery.”

The Shoffs live on a farm in Flora, Ind. Although retired, Dean still takes care of the chickens. He had to stop taking care of them last summer because it was just too painful. He was relying heavily on a walker to get around.

‘Spinal stenosis can lead to the slow but steady loss of strength in the legs,” explains Rayhan Jalal, MD, FRCSC, orthopedics and sports medicine surgeon who operated on Dean at Arnett Hospital in late 2022. “The severe pain caused by this condition can be quite disabling, even if you have no muscle weakness, since it greatly affects your ability to work and enjoy life. The natural course of the disease is one of slow progression over time.”

“I felt relief immediately,” shares Dean. After spending the night in the hospital to monitor his atrial fibrillation, he was able to walk out the next day without a walker.

Dean credits Dr. Jalal for taking a chance on a person of his age and giving him his life back. “I cannot thank him enough and I highly recommend him.”

A few days later, he was back at Arnett Hospital with his wife Phyllis, 84, who had a balloon kyphoplasty procedure — a minimally invasive procedure designed to repair vertebral compression fractures in the spine by reducing and stabilizing the fracture.

Phyllis, a retired nurse, jokes that age has taken both her memory and her height. Several years ago, she had the same procedure and had relief. In the fall, she fell and started having excruciating pain and back spasms.

“Balloon kyphoplasty treats pathological fractures of the vertebral body due to osteoporosis,” shares Erika Ugianskis, MD, interventional radiologist. “Osteoporosis is a condition characterized by low bone mass and deterioration in the micro architecture of bone tissue, causes more than 750,000 – 800,000 spinal fractures each approximately two-thirds are undiagnosed and untreated.”

Phyllis describes the procedure performed by Dr. Ugianskis as “she inserts two needles into the back, and then she inserts tiny balloons through those needles into the broken back bone. She inflates the balloons to create space that she fills with bone cement.”

“The goal of balloon kyphoplasty surgery is to relieve pain and restore lost vertebral body height and stabilize the fracture,” adds Ugianskis.

Phyllis shares that she has three more discs to do and will be back to see Dr. Ugianskis when she does.

Melvin Bell is a team member with environmental services (EVS). He’s been clocking in at IU Health for 41 years and counting. “Everybody here knows me, the doctors, nurses, managers,” said Melvin. “A lot more people know my name than I know their name. That’s one thing that’s kept me around so long is this team. This is a good team.”

The location is bringing together a full range of musculoskeletal services—all under one roof—in Carmel.

By Charlotte Stefanski, cstefanski@iuhealth.org, writer for IU Health’s Indianapolis Suburban Region

From physical therapy to orthopedic surgeries, IU Health is rethinking the way it provides musculoskeletal services on the northside.

As of this January, the Indianapolis community and beyond will have access to these services and more—all in one location—at Methodist Medical Plaza North, 201 Pennsylvania Pkwy Suite 100 in Carmel.

With many of these services previously provided at IU Health North Hospital, physicians and team members will now provide state-of-the-art care at the new location. It is equipped with all necessary resources, including x-ray, MRI, CT scanner, laboratory and surgery center.

Dr. Dan Wurtz, an orthopedic surgeon who has been with IU Health for 25 years, says the design is novel for Indiana, and possibly surrounding states.

“It’s all about access and patient convenience; same day service, instant consults—even if it’s walking a patient down the hallway to another provider who might have more expertise in an area,” he said.

A growing need

The new location at Methodist Medical Plaza North will be able to better accommodate the growing practice, but it won’t just be another orthopedic clinic. Instead, it will offer a full range of musculoskeletal services.

Service lines within the suite include sports medicine, orthopedics, physical medicine and rehabilitation, neurosurgery, anesthesia, rheumatology and plastic surgery.

The clinical programs also include sports (surgical and non-operative), hip and knee replacement, upper extremity and hand, spine, orthopedic oncology, pain, osteoporosis, soft tissue reconstruction and limb salvage, and podiatry.

“That’s going to be what really differentiates us from the competitors in the north region,” said Eric Hall, vice chair for the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at IU Health Physicians. “We can really offer any sort of musculoskeletal care that’s in one place, one location.”

Comprehensive care is key

Creating a space for comprehensive care in musculoskeletal services will greatly impact patients, especially when it comes to convenience.

Wurtz hears it all the time. Someone might have an appointment for a problem, only to be told their problem cannot be solved by the physician they’re seeing. Instead, they have to reschedule their appointment, often at a different location.

With so many musculoskeletal specialties now in one space, it’s likely someone there will have the needed expertise.

In this multidisciplinary location, providers will also have access to different kinds of care for their patients that they may not have had before, like physical therapy.

“That person may not be available that day, but at least you have the exposure to the place that’s going to take care of you,” Wurtz said. “Identifying with that place, I think could be helpful.”

What should the community know?

As physicians and team members transition into the new space, the community should know that this location is already growing, with six additional non-operative providers being added to the team.

Both the walk-in clinic and same-day appointments will be available at the new location. The walk-in clinic’s hours are 9 am – 3:30 pm, Monday through Friday.

This new location is primarily for adult services. Riley Children’s Health orthopedic services will remain at IU Health North Hospital.

Wurtz noted that if anything more complicated arises in patient care—whether it be non-surgical, further work-ups or involving other specialties—North Hospital is in close proximity.

“I want the community to know that even though we’re calling this suite a multidisciplinary clinic across the spectrum of musculoskeletal services, it will still be connected with other services that are needed for the whole patient at IU Health North.”

Endless opportunities

As the space opens this month, both Hall and Wurtz are excited to see reactions from both patients and physicians working there.

And as the program continues to grow, they’re also looking forward to the location’s educational component for residents and fellows at the Indiana University School of Medicine. There will also be more research opportunities as well.

“What I’m looking forward to is seeing the reaction of both the patients and the providers occupying this space at the same time,” Wurtz said. “Because it is I think it’s a cut above what most have experienced. That will be highly gratifying.”

Want to make an appointment? For office visits and general inquiries, call: 317.944.9400. Click here for more information.

Looking back, Jordan Williams can think of some signs but his diagnosis was completely unexpected.

By IU Health Senior Journalist, TJ Banes, tfender1@iuhealth.org

He’s never had a broken bone or a cavity. He had annual checkups and never had an indication that he was anything other than healthy.

“I don’t think I’d even been to a hospital except maybe to visit a grandparent,” said Jordan Williams, who turns 35 this month. “There were no red flags on my checkups. This just came about so slowly at a time I was transitioning to a new job that I thought it might be stress related.”

A lifelong Indianapolis resident, Williams graduated from Lawrence Central High School and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Civil Engineering from Purdue University.

He had just accepted a job as a project manager with the City of Indianapolis Department of Public Works when he started experiencing some unexplained symptoms. His right leg would fall asleep, so he’d get up and walk to get the blood flowing. Maybe a dozen or so times a day, he’d experience cloudy vision.

In August 2020, Williams married his wife Ellen. They have one son, five months old.

It was his mother-in-law, a retired nurse who encouraged Williams to go for a thorough health check. She was with him when his leg became numb and he wasn’t able to bear weight. He first made an appointment with an optometrist for his blurry vision. That was in July 2022. A followup appointment was scheduled with a neuro-ophthalmologist the next month.

“He looked at my nerves and wrote a letter and said I needed to go to the ER right away for an MRI and CT. He said with an extremely high degree of confidence that it looked like I had a brain tumor,” said Williams. He remembers the day well.

It was the middle of his work day and everything just stopped.

“We had a baby shower scheduled in Chicago that was cancelled. My sister’s wedding was coming up. I didn’t know what to think,” said Williams.

The MRI confirmed he had a grade II meningioma, the most common type of primary brain tumor. It starts in the outer three layers of the protective tissue located between the skull and the brain. The severity is determined by the classification and location.

“It was outside my brain matter and was compressing on my brain in the top left of my skull. I’m told it doesn’t impact as many of the high functioning features as the tumor in the front so I was very fortunate,” said Williams.

On Aug, 23, 2022, in the care of IU Health Dr. Aaron Cohen-Gadol, he went in for a surgery that took about six hours. Williams was told that the team was able to remove 97 percent of the tumor.

“The days that followed were a blur but I was in high spirits and never really felt any pain. The staff at IU Health were tremendous – from the people who cleaned my room to the residents and the surgeons,” said Williams.

As the days progressed into a week, he had one goal – to make it to his sister’s wedding. On August 27 – just four days after brain surgery, Williams walked with a cane, up to the front of the church to do a reading during the ceremony.

“The therapist was impressed by my recovery rate and said that in all good conscience she couldn’t keep me in the hospital,” said Williams.

He and his wife welcomed their son on October 7, and Williams began radiation in November. We joke that we had all these hospital visits under the same calendar year, but the truth is we had such a positive experience with IU Health that we wanted our pediatrician to be in the IU Health Network,” said Williams. Their son was delivered at IU Health North.

After his surgery, and radiation, Williams said his CT scans look good and he hasn’t experienced any cognitive decline.

“I think I’m going to come out stronger and I have an overwhelming sense of gratitude. Every step of the way could have gone a different direction and this has been a blessing in disguise. I have been able to take a step back, not worry about silly things and refocus at a time that we have become parents,” said Williams.

Yvette Willett has been a team member with environmental services (EVS) for almost six years. She spends most of her days on inpatient units, caring for patients by cleaning their rooms. Yvette loves to chat and get to know them. She understands why her job is vital to getting them well. “The patients that are coming in here are coming in here because they are ill. We do not want them to attract any illness or infection while they are here. That’s why my job is important.”

Sheriff Keith Everhart serves the people of Hardin County, Ohio. For 30 years he battled quietly with ulcerative colitis and then primary sclerosing cholangitis before doctors told him it was time to consider a liver transplant in the fall of 2022. “I’ve been driving three hours to Indy for care for the last 20 years,” said Keith. “Of course, I asked my doctor here in Lima, Ohio why he referred me to IU Health and his exact answer was, if it was my family, that’s where I would be sending them. They’re the best around.”

Rodney Johnson is a new nurse at IU Health Methodist Hospital. He cares for patients on the hospital’s advanced cardio pulmonary unit. “When you get out of nursing school and into the field, it’s a lot different. There’s policy and other additional rules and things you have to learn so I felt like after nursing school I still had a lot left to learn,” said Rodney. “One thing I really like about the hospital here is that they have a really cool program called Foundations… where new grads, for the first week or so, go and shadow a nurse educator and they take you on different units of the hospital and kind of give you that one-to-one training before you hit the floor. I gained a lot of experience just from doing that and then when I got to my floor and got with my preceptor, the preceptor was really surprised with all the things I already knew.”