Left to Right: Dr. Moira Stilwell, Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly; Dr. Guy Rosenthal, Hadassah Senior Neurosurgeon; Bill Barrable, RHI Chief Executive Officer; Hon. Minister Michael de Jong, British Columbia’s Minister of Finance; Prof. Eyal Itsahayek, Director of Spinal Neurosurgery at Hadassah; and Prof. Yoram Weiss, Medical Director, Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem
The medical interventions and outcomes for Israelis with a spinal cord injury (SCI) will now be captured in the Rick Hansen SCI Registry (RHSCIR), thanks to the November 16th launch of a partnership between the Hadassah Medical Organization and the Rick Hansen Institute (RHI), a Canadian-based not-for-profit organization named after the paralympic athlete who suffered a severe spinal cord injury following a car accident.
RHI is committed to accelerating the translation of discoveries and best practices into improved treatments for people with spinal cord injuries.
The partnership, which involves a prospective observational study of individuals who have sustained a traumatic SCI, aims to advance research, improve clinical practice, and reduce healthcare costs by connecting clinicians, researchers, and healthcare administrators. To date, the Registry has sites at 31 major acute care and rehabilitation hospitals across Canada and, in the last year, Hansen established sites in China, New Zealand and now Israel. There are currently more than 6,000 individuals with SCI enrolled in the Registry.
Dr. Eyal Itshayek, Director of Spinal Neurosurgery at Hadassah, is leading the study in Israel. His team will collect details about the extent of patient injuries, level of paralysis, recovery, success of various treatments, and the impact of the injury on patients’ physical abilities and quality of life.
“It is a great honor to be part of the growing SCI network which contributes to the RHSCIR database,” comments Dr. Itshayek. “With increased knowledge sharing and evolving research solutions, we can offer patients optimal care based on their health care needs.”
For more information about the launch at Hadassah: