Weill Cornell Medicine - Center for Comprehensive Spine Care

Dr. Hussain is the best!! His ability to communicate to me and my mom the diagnosis and treatment was amazing. I felt his sympathy and knew he was truly looking out for me.

I was treated by Dr. Roger Hartl and his associates. I received wonderful care as well as successful back surgery. Dr. Hartl is a wonderfully gifted surgeon of the highest degree.

Had such high hope to receive good medical advice from the Spine Center after listening to their podcasts over a long time. I called and made an appointment,saw a doctor and had an updated MRI performed. Unfortunately after having the MRI, instead speaking to the Doctor to review the findings , I could only speak to a nurse , who was of no help whatsoever. All She could offer as a remedy for my chronic back pain were epidural injections that I have had in the past and do not work. Never heard from the doctor. End result, I unsubscribed to the podcast, and will seek from another medical institution that Does Not have a firewall between you and your doctor. My time and money spent at the Spine Center was not worth it. I will never go back.

I saw a physiatrist at Mount Sinai for almost a year since I had no clue that this department at Cornell existed up until recently. I made an appointment last week, was seen the next day, and am thoroughly impressed. I have scoliosis and degenerative disc disease, which both cause me a ton of pain - and I've tried physical therapy, meds, trigger point injections, etc. Dr. Shin did more for me on the first visit than my physiatrist at Mount Sinai did almost over the course of a year!

I had two surgeries. The first one was in upstate New York, that was a failure. I was referred to Weill Cornell Medical Center for Comprehensive Spine Care. They are the best doctors and hospital. I would never go anywhere else for major surgery. I recommend Dr. Kia Ming Fu for back surgery. He was wonderful and his staff members took very good care of me.

Besides the world class medical treatment my wife received from the doctors Dr. Hartl and Dr. "Lynn" the staff of WCMC Spine Care were incredible. I must name names - Kellie. Rebecca, and Shirlee were personable, responsive, and professional. Their guidance through the process of setting up the pre=surgery testing, the surgery itself, and answering our questions after discharge was extremely helpful in making these tasks easier and allaying our concerns. Bless you and all the doctors and staff

While I would never say that having a cervical surgery is fun, I can unequivocally say that Dr. Roger Hartl and his team were adept, seamless and so, so competent. Go for a second opinion but I guarantee you'll be back as Weill Cornell for Spine Care is unparalleled. My results have been amazing.

I am a relatively new patient to the Spine Center. My journey began seeing Dr. Michael Sein for pain management. I had an excellent experience, Dr. Sein was very caring and clearly an expert at what he does. it was unfortunate that the injections did not produce sustained relief and I was referred to consider surgical management. The benefit of being seen within a Center with a multidisciplinary team was quite apparent. I was then referred to Dr. Roger Hartl and was seen pretty quickly. Again, had another exceptional experience. Dr. Hartl and Nurse Practitioner Chelsie McCarthy were amazing. They spent a lot of time reviewing the proposed surgery, what to expect etc, all of my questions and concerns were addressed fully. Dr Hartl has a wonderful chairside/bedside manor. Thankfully, I had surgery last week another phenomenal experience and am feeling so much better. Chelsie McCarthy, NP has been wonderful and has walked me along the post operative care continuum, extremely responsive. I couldn't be more pleased with the process and with the care I have received. I strongly recommend this multidisciplinary team.

Dr. Roger Hartl and his team are not warm and fuzzy, but I knew in my gut he would know my case inside and out. He was completely focused on his job...fixing my back. After a bad fall, I had severe compression on my spine and required a fusion of my L4 and L5. Getting an appointment requires a recent MRI. Mine was 9 months old so I had to get a new MRI just to see him. He doesnt take appointments unless he feels surgery is required so I had mixed emotions when they called and said they would like to set up an appointment. He was very concerned. He explained my options and surgery very clearly. He gave me his email and cell phone number and responded while on vacation. Sometimes he was unavailable and had his PA, Chelsie McCarthy respond, but its understandable because he’s in surgery much of the time! Chelsie had the answers to all my questions. Everybody told me horror stories about their surgeries and the recovery period. My back was so bad he was worried about paralysis or incontinence. Post-op I only saw him once very briefly but immediately the numbness from my waist down was gone following surgery and his team was available for any questions or concerns that i had. He is a genuine, kind and caring man, but more important to me - he is a BRILLIANT surgeon.

I am a 60 year old woman with acute and chronic lower back pain for 15 years. Evaluated at NY Presbyterian Columbia neuro surgery where I was told I would need surgery for both a small lesion on the conus medularis and fusion of my Lumbar vertebrae 4:5 because of stenosis, spondylithesis and severe facet disease. I was evaluated by two neurologists, one referring me to Dr R Hartl at the Cornell Spine Center for a second opinion. I Sent results of my MRI and EMG , and was told by Dr Hartl's rep that he reviewed the images and determined " that there was nothing there that indicated a need for surgery", and that I should see one of the neurologists at the spine center. I was assigned to Dr Bridget Carey. She performed a thorough exam and told me she would present my case at the weekly Wednesday patient conference with Dr Hartl. Seven weeks passed and After multiple telephone calls I still had no response from Dr Carey. Her secretary actually placed notes on her desk and computer to call me, all to no avail. Finally, I reported my complaint to the office manager for the entire group. I received a call back immediately from Dr Carey who apologized and stated that because it was the summer they had not convened for their weekly conference. She presented me the next day, called and advised me to contact the front desk and that Dr Hartl would finally see me and I should make an appointment. She also advised that at this point I needed up to date images and she would have the requisitions sent to my radiology group. When I attempted to make an appointment with Dr Hartl 8 weeks into this process again I was told by his screener that he reviewed my images and nothing indicated a need for surgery. No new scripts for MRI were ever sent and I was Advised to follow up again with Dr Carey where she would determine a plan of action. This experience has left me totally dumbfounded. Never did get a second opinion by this "renowned physician". Would never pursue further evaluation or treatment with the Cornell Spine Center because of this very frustrating experience Run, don't walk and find competent practitioners elsewhere GM