USA Health accredited as a level four epilepsy center
Level four epilepsy centers have the professional expertise and facilities to provide the highest level of medical and surgical evaluation and treatment for patients with complex epilepsy.
By Lindsay Mott
lmott@health.southalabama.edu
The USA Health Comprehensive Epilepsy Program (SouthCEP) has been accredited as a level four epilepsy center by the National Association of Epilepsy Centers (NAEC) for 2020 and 2021. USA Health is one of two level four centers in Alabama.
Level four is the highest level of accreditation awarded by the NAEC, according to Juan Ochoa, M.D., director of SouthCEP. Level four epilepsy centers have the professional expertise and facilities to provide the highest level of medical and surgical evaluation and treatment for patients with complex epilepsy.
Epilepsy is a disorder where nerve cell activity in the brain is disturbed, which causes seizures. Epilepsy may occur as a result of a genetic disorder or an acquired brain injury, such as a trauma or stroke.
“Patients that require advanced care for epilepsy can be evaluated and treated here on the Gulf Coast,” said Ochoa, who is also a professor of neurology at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine and director of the neurology residency program. “We are the only center with this level of sophistication in this area.”
USA Health received this designation because of its ability to manage complex cases. To provide comprehensive epilepsy care, USA Health has neurologists who specialize in epilepsy management, neurosurgeons trained in epilepsy surgery, certified EEG technicians, neuro radiologists, neuro pathologists, and others involved in epilepsy care. USA Health offers epilepsy monitoring at University Hospital and Children’s & Women’s Hospital.
“Receiving level four designation officially recognizes the ongoing work and services we have been providing to our epilepsy patients for the last decade,” said Dean Naritoku, M.D., chair of neurology and professor of neurology and pharmacology at the USA College of Medicine. “It acknowledges our advanced epilepsy evaluations, workups and brain surgery for epilepsy. Having this designation places us on a national registry of epilepsy centers for patients who are trying to locate these kinds of services.”
For more information or to make an appointment with a physician at the USA Health Comprehensive Epilepsy Program, call (251) 660-5108.
