By Howard Koplowitz
The North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System named a new head of its Chiari Institute nearly 1 1/2 years after the director of the institute retired amid reports he refused to perform a brain operation for a woman who had been anesthetized for surgery because she was not his patient.
Last week North Shore-LIJ appointed Dr. Harold L. Rekate as director of the institute, which is one of the health system’s Cushing Institutes of Neuroscience and operates within the hospitals’ Department of Neurosurgery.
Rekate formerly worked at the Barrow Neurological Institute, which is a part of St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, Ariz.
He will start as director of the Chiari Institute Feb. 25, the health system said.
The Chiari Institute treats cases of Chiari malformation, a rare condition that causes excess brain tissue to push against the cerebellum and spinal cord as well as syringomyelia, a chronic spinal cord disease, and other disorders.
Dr. Thomas Milhorat, the former director of North Shore-LIJ’s Chiari Institute, stepped down in May 2010 after the case was made public in 2009, although North Shore-LIJ said his retirement had been in the works for months and was not related to the flap because Milhorat was 73 years old.
The woman eventually had the surgery and it was successful.
“At the NS-LIJ Cushing Neuroscience Institutes, we are committed to recruiting world-class neurosurgical talent,” said Dr. Raj Narayan, chairman of North Shore-LIJ’s Department of Neurosurgery. “Dr. Rekate brings to our city a wealth of expertise in the management of congenital neurosurgical issues, including surgery for Chiari malformations, hydrocephalus, pseudotumor cerebri, spina bifida, craniofacial disorders and brain tumors.
“A renowned expert in the field of neurosurgery, Dr. Rekate is also actively involved in the multidisciplinary care of adults and children with various craniofacial abnormalities. As such, Dr. Rekate’s expertise in the care of adults and children with a wide array of neurosurgical abnormalities will take the Chiari Institute to another level of clinical excellence.”
The Pennsylvania woman on whom Milhorat reportedly refused to operate was a patient of Dr. Paolo Bolognese, who could not be reached by the hospital at the time that Milhorat declined to step in for him and perform the surgery.
Bolognese’s clinical practice privileges were on hold following the allegations and was reinstated within a month of the incident.
Although Milhorat retired, he is still employed by North Shore-LIJ in a “research capacity,” a hospital spokesman said.
Reach reporter Howard Koplowitz by e-mail at hkoplowitz@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4573.
