Concussion Clinic at Bethesda Hospital

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About the Concussion Clinic at Bethesda Hospital

Bethesda Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota has launched the first-of-its-kind clinic in the Midwest to treat people, especially athletes, who are injured with a concussion. Sports related concussions are a primary focus, yet the program offers treatment also for auto accident, personal injury and work related head-injuries.

Bethesda Hospital is considered the Midwest expert in Traumatic and Acquired Brain Injury Rehabilitation with its inpatient programs and has outpatient programs in Parkinson's treatment, cognitive and behavioral disorders and brain injury medication management.
The Concussion Clinic at Bethesda Hospital is a convenient, one-day clinic that offers treatment by experts who work with brain injury everyday, including physicians, neuro-psychologists and therapists.

Treating staff include Ken Britton DO, Robert Sevenich MD, Charles Ormiston MD and neuropsychologists Dr. Nancy Spitzack and Dr. Maida Gunther from the Bethesda Hospital family. Both Dr. Spitzack and Dr. Gunther are Credentialed ImPACT Consultants (CIC).

Schools Using ImPACT

Local schools include Totino Grace, Hill Murray, and Spring Lake Park High Schools, Providence Academy, and Concordia University.

ImPACT History:

Sports where concussions and brain injuries frequently occur include football, soccer, boxing, skiing, snowboarding, baseball, skateboarding and horseback riding. In any given football season, ten percent of all college players and 20 percent of all high school players sustain brain injuries.

Bethesda's Concussion Clinic is teaming with ImPACT for neurocognitive testing in clinic, for individuals to take the test through Bethesda's website and is also partnering with local schools and athletic programs directly.

Call the Concussion Clinic at Bethesda Hospital at 651-326-HEAD (4323) for medical issues and appointments.
Program contacts:
Mary Griffith RN (Clinical Director) at 651-232-2726 or email mgriffith@healtheast.org
Dean Wennerberg ATC at 651-326-2182 or email dwennerberg@healtheast.org

Local Articles:

www.impacttest.com/pdf/fight_against_concussions.pdf

About the Treating Staff

Kenneth R. Britton, DO
Medical Director, Rehabilitation Care

Kenneth Britton, DO, currently serves as Medical Director of Bethesda's Rehabilitation Care Program and also of Brain Injury Rehabilitation. Dr. Britton attended medical school at the University of Osteopathic Medicine and Health Sciences in Des Moines, Iowa. He completed his residencies in physical medicine and rehabilitation at the University of Minnesota and at the Research Enrichment Program for Physiatrists at the University of Missouri.
In the Concussion Clinic, Dr. Britton performs initial patient evaluation and follow-up care including establishing diagnosis, prescribing and coordinating treatment plan based on progress and return to activity for patients. He also directs care to other specialties within Outpatient Services including neurology, neuropsychology for testing and therapies.

Dr. Britton has interests in the areas of spasticity care, chronic pain, and orthostatic intolerance as related to bedrest. He also is an Adjunct Clinical Professor in the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Program at the University of Minnesota.

Charles F. Ormiston, MD
Neurologist

Dr. Ormiston is Director of Neurology for the HealthEast Neurovascular Institute and has ongoing interest in the prevention, acute management, and rehabilitation of stroke. He is a consultant in neurology at the Bethesda Hospital Capistrant Parkinson's Center and is past director of stroke and head injury rehabilitation at Bethesda. He has an ongoing interest in the mechanisms of recovery in head injury and other neurological injuries and in predicting and preventing concussions.

Dr. Ormiston is an invited speaker for national and international brain injury and rehabilitation seminars. He is a graduate of North Dakota State University and the University of North Dakota Medical School and also holds a degree in pharmacology.

Robert Sevenich, MD, JD
Medical Director, Brain Injury Services

Robert Sevenich, MD, is Medical Director of Bethesda's Brain Injury Services. He is board certified in psychiatry and an attorney-at-law. He earned his medical degree from the University of Minnesota Medical School and his law degree from William Mitchell College of Law.

Dr. Sevenich completed his residency in psychiatry at the University of Minnesota, and in family practice at Regions Hospital. His medical interests are in medication management in brain injury, and competency in medical decision-making. Dr. Sevenich also works at St. Joseph's Hospital in the Department of Psychiatry, and for the Board of Law Examiners' Evaluation Panel.

Nancy Spitzack, PsyD, LP
Clinical Neuropsychologist

Dr. Nancy Spitzack conducts outpatient and inpatient neuropsychological evaluations for patients with cognitive deficits due to neurological dysfunction, including patients with brain injury, stroke or dementia at Bethesda Outpatient Services Clinic and Bethesda Hospital. She received her PsyD in clinical psychology from Antioch New England Graduate School, completed her clinical internship at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center and her postdoctoral fellowship in neuropsychology at the Neurobehavioral Institute of New Jersey.

Dr. Spitzack evaluates older adolescents, adults, and geriatric patients at Bethesda. She serves the Concussion Clinic in the area of Neuropsychological Testing including a role as an ImPACT Credentialed ImPACT Consultant (CIC), a baseline sports concussion testing program. Dr. Spitzack also has experience in children's psychology.


Maida G. Gunther, PhD, LP
Clinical Neuropsychologist

Dr. Maida Gunther provides outpatient and inpatient neuropsychological evaluations for individuals with traumatic brain injury and neurological dysfunction at Bethesda Outpatient Services and Bethesda Hospital. She evaluates adolescents, adults and geriatric individuals.

Dr. Gunther serves the Concussion Clinic in the area of Neuropsychological Testing including a role as an ImPACT Credentialed ImPACT Consultant (CIC), a baseline sports concussion testing program.

She received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology, with a specialization in neuropsychology, from California School of Professional Psychology in 1994. Dr. Gunther also has an interest in Sports Psychology and Animal-assisted Therapy.


Elizabeth Ironside, PT
Physical Therapist

Elizabeth Ironside is a physical therapist at Bethesda Hospital in both inpatient and outpatient brain injury rehabilitation. In the Concussion Clinic, Elizabeth evaluates and treats patients with dizziness, headaches, and underlying musculoskeletal issues as related to concussion and mild traumatic brain injury.

Elizabeth received her BS in Marketing from the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management and then her Doctorate of Physical Therapy from the U of M in 2006. She has been at Bethesda since July of 2006. Elizabeth has interests in vestibular rehabilitation, mild and severe TBI, and manual therapy.