For the first time, Mercy Hospital Jefferson in Crystal City has a neurosurgeon and a pain management specialist on staff.
Dr. Mark Rivkin, a neurosurgeon, and Dr. Loc Thang, a pain management specialist, have joined the staff at the hospital, which means area patients no longer need to travel long distances to receive the kind of care they provide.
The two doctors lead a team that provides a collaborative approach to treating patients’ pain, particularly back, joint and spine pain, along with other conditions, such as nerve pain and cancer pain, according to materials the hospital provided.
“Jefferson County and the surrounding areas are underserved with little pain management,” said Thang, who grew up in Vietnam. “What I wanted to do is build a pain clinic, and Mercy Jefferson is perfect for that. With my childhood experiences, I know what it’s like living in an underserved area. Coming here is getting back to my roots, allowing me to serve where I’m needed.”
Joe Foster of Pevely, a longtime patient of Thang’s, said he was happy to learn he no longer had to drive to St. Louis to receive pain management care from a physician he highly values.
“I have had a lot of back pain,” said Foster, 82. “I saw (Thang) at Barnes-Jewish Hospital (in St. Louis) for 10 years. I now see him at Mercy Jefferson.
“Now, it’s a 10-minute drive instead of an hour.”
Foster said Thang performed an intracept procedure on him, which is a minimally invasive outpatient surgery to reduce lower back pain.
“It’s probably helped me improve 90 percent,” Foster said. “I can do things I couldn’t do because of the pain.
“He does a great job with everything. He’s treating my wife, too.”
Rivkin treats a wide range of conditions that affect the brain and spine.
Some of the common conditions a neurosurgeon treats include degenerative conditions with neck and arm pain or with lower back and leg pain, according to the materials from Mercy Jefferson.
“I believe in a personalized approach to patients, in tailoring the treatment plan to the individual and not to the procedures I can perform,” Rivkin said. “By far, not every spine problem is surgical. Sometimes, I need to point the patient in a nonsurgical direction to seek help for the right care.
“I’m excited to provide a service that’s not readily available at every hospital, especially outside an urban setting. It’s taking a significant investment in adding the right people and equipment needed to add this service here in Jefferson County.”
In addition to performing surgery at Mercy Jefferson, Rivkin sees patients at Mercy Clinic Neurosurgery-Jefferson on the hospital campus in Crystal City and at Mercy Clinic Neurosurgery-Richardson Square in Arnold.
Thang sees patients at Mercy Clinic Spine and Pain Management-Jefferson, which shares an office with the neurosurgery clinic on the hospital campus in Crystal City.