Good Samaritan Hospital Opens New Inpatient EEG Monitoring Suite

Only Program of Its Kind In Rockland and Orange Counties

Good Samaritan Hospital has expanded and enhanced its electroencephalogram (EEG) laboratory with a comprehensive Inpatient EEG Monitoring Program. Doctors say it will provide residents of Rockland and Orange with “unmatched neurological assessment, diagnosis and therapy.”

“It is very complicated to get an accurate diagnosis of a neurological episode, but the best way to capture and understand the event is through an inpatient EEG. Seizures can be subtle and non-convulsive, so being able to directly monitor the patient in-person is imperative. We can make real-time medical observations and adjustments which lead to more precise diagnoses and treatments,” said Mill Etienne, M.D., director of the Epilepsy and EEG Laboratory at Good Samaritan Hospital.

Uncontrolled epilepsy affects more than 1.2 million Americans, often requiring several treatment attempts and examinations to be able to identify their actual neurological condition. Some patients experience seizure-like episodes but need to determine if they have epilepsy or if something else is causing their symptoms. Other patients have non-epileptic seizures that stem from heart or blood-vessel disease, or from emotional stress.

Various seizure conditions have their own therapy recommendations, so it is important to get the diagnosis correct. Continuous, inpatient EEG data streamlines the diagnosis process by revealing the full picture of a patient’s brain activity, Good Sam doctors said. Electroencephalogram (EEG) tests measure the electrical activity of the brain using sensors (electrodes) attached to the head and connected by wires to a computer. The tests are safe and painless, doctors said.

The program has been bolstered by the recent addition of neurologist and epileptologist, Steven Smith, M.D. to the Bon Secours Medical Group. Dr. Smith specializes in clinical neurophysiology with a particular emphasis in EEG, seizure disorders, and epilepsy and is board-certified in neurology and epilepsy.

The Good Samaritan Hospital Inpatient EEG program is now accepting new patients, for more information or to make an appointment, contact 845.368.8808. Good Sam is a member of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth).

Edited press release

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