(October 15, 2007 - Rockville Centre, NY) - Mercy Medical Center has expanded its neurosurgery capabilities, with the addition to its medical staff of three physicians with expertise in the latest treatments and techniques.

Jonathan Brisman, MD, specializes in cerebrovascular and endovascular surgery. Artem Vaynman, MD, offers the latest techniques in minimally-invasive complex spine surgery, and Lee Tessler, MD, provides treatment of degenerative spine disease and brain tumors utilizing both minimally-invasive procedures and non-invasive techniques including Mercy’s Gamma Knife® Radiosurgery system. All three practice at Neurological Surgery, P.C. in Rockville Centre.

Dr. Brisman is among fewer than 100 neurosurgeons across the country trained in both microneurosurgery and endovascular techniques and among the first dual-trained endovascular surgeons on Long Island. Prior to joining the medical staff at Mercy, he was Director of Cerebrovascular and Endovascular Neurosurgery at the New Jersey Neuroscience Institute, JFK Medical Center in Edison, New Jersey. He received his medical degree from Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, and residency and fellowship training at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Roosevelt Hospital in New York City and Swedish Hospital in Seattle.

Dr. Vaynman, who resides in Great Neck, utilizes advanced minimally-invasive techniques for the treatment of lower back pain, herniated discs, spinal stenosis, vertebral compression fractures, degenerative scoliosis and other spinal problems. He received his medical degree from SUNY-Downstate College of Medicine in Brooklyn and residency and fellowship training at University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey, Hackensack University Medical Center and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, where he was a Spine Surgery Fellow prior to joining the medical staff at Mercy.

Dr. Tessler, a graduate of Syosset High School who now resides in Roslyn, emphasizes a minimally-invasive approach to primary and metastatic brain tumors, meningiomas and degenerative spine disease. He is trained in advanced endoscopic techniques and certified to perform stereotactic radiosurgery utilizing Mercy’s Gamma Knife, which enables surgeons to treat lesions in the brain once considered inaccessible or inoperable using a highly focused beams of radiation to provide the precision of surgery without an incision and the inherent risks of surgery. Dr. Tessler received his medical degree from Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health, and postgraduate training at New York University Medical Center and Bellevue Hospital Center, where he was Chef Resident in the Department of Neurological Surgery prior to joining Mercy’s medical staff.

Mercy Medical Center in Rockville Centre is a 387-bed, not-for-profit hospital serving the healthcare needs of Nassau County and its surrounding area. Best known for services in maternal health, oncology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, orthopedics, and behavioral health, Mercy provides 24-hour emergency and trauma care, is a state-designated Stroke Center and site of a Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, as well as a Bariatric Center of Excellence designated by the American Society of Bariatric Surgery, and the regional home of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Mercy also is the recipient of the 2007 Orthopedic Care Excellence Award from HealthGrades, the nation’s leading healthcare ratings company.

Mercy Medical Center is a member of Catholic Health Services of Long Island. For physician referrals call (516) 62-MERCY or visit Mercy on line at http://mercymedicalcenter.chsli.org

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Contact: Mel Granick
Phone: (516) 705-2618
e-Mail: Mel.Granick@chsli.org