| SMHC
to offer pain management services
Dennis Tracy, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, will be offering pain management services at St. Mary’s Hospital. Tracy currently provides anesthesiology services during surgical procedures at the hospital. He joined the SMHC staff last year after working at Syringa Hospital, Grangeville, since 1989. 
“People with chronic pain that is not being managed well often experience a diminished quality of life. Pain can interfere with the enjoyment of everyday activities,” said Tracy. “We’ll use a variety of modalities to break that cycle of pain, including trigger point injections, nerve blocks and epidural steroid injections. We’ll also look at other possible treatment methods including physical therapy, counseling, medication management and anything else we can employ to stop that vicious cycle.” Patients must be referred to the pain management program by their health care provider. Candidates include patients with herniated discs, nerve root impingements, neuralgia, rib fractures, bursitis, herpes zoster, fibromyalgia and other pain causing conditions. According to the American Chronic Pain Association 45% of all Americans seek care for persistent pain at some point in their lives. Over 75 million Americans live with serious pain. “Most patients I’ll see in the afternoons since we usually have surgeries or scopes scheduled in the mornings,” said Tracy. “I’ll be working with the qualified team at St. Mary’s and the patient is always considered part of that team.” |
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