August 28, 2024 By Hannah Fairbanks We are thrilled to announce that our Pain Medicine faculty practice has relocated and expanded in the new, state-of-the-art Bayfront Medical Building. The Bayfront Medical Building opened with a ribbon cutting ceremony and celebration on August 23rd, and the first day of patient care was on August 27th. This beautiful new environment will significantly enhance service offerings and patient care capabilities. Leadership in the Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, including chair Dr. Michael Gropper and vice chair of Pain Medicine Dr. Mark Schumacher have advocated for a new space for our department’s faculty practice for some time. Dr. Christopher Abrecht, chief of Pain Medicine in the Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care and Medical Director of the newly renamed UCSF Center for Pain Medicine, and his team collaborated over the past three years with a talented design group to meticulously craft this space from a 9,000 square foot shell to its current state. Image Photo by Jane Richey Advanced Physical Space The new facility boasts three procedure rooms set up for fluoroscopic procedures and multiple additional procedural rooms set up for ultrasound-guided procedures and other interventions. The clinic also has dedicated pre-procedure and post-procedural space, to facilitate procedural throughput. This infrastructure will improve procedural capability, allowing the group to address and reduce procedural backlog. According to Abrecht, “We anticipate surpassing the 3,500 procedures we already perform annually.” Additionally, the Center for Pain Medicine will have three infusion bays, enabling expansion of infusion therapy, demand for which currently far outstrips capacity. Currently, the group provides ketamine and lidocaine infusions and plans to expand this to include other medications. Growing Team of Experts To support these expanding services, the Center for Pain Medicine has welcomed multiple new non-physician staff members, including additional medical assistants, practice coordinators, a patient navigator, a practice supervisor, clinical nurses, a radiologic technologist, and a nurse practitioner. This substantial addition is the most significant staffing increase in several years and will no doubt improve the quality of care administered at the Center. New physician faculty members have also joined the team and expanded their clinical footprint, further enhancing clinical expertise and patient care. Image Photo by Jane Richey Innovative Programs and Services The new facility houses several noteworthy programs: Psychologically Informed Physical Therapy: This new service occurring within the clinic will benefit patients with kinesophobia (fear of movement), particularly those with back pain, by providing integrated care from pain psychologists and physical therapists. Providers in this program will include Dr. Valerie Jackson from pain psychology and Vincent Ann, PT, PDT from physical therapy. Interventional Cancer Pain: Our interventional cancer pain program, led by Dr. Ann Shah, will continue to strengthen our longstanding partnership with palliative care and other cancer specialists. The addition of our new faculty member, Dr. Ben Arevalo, trained in both pain medicine and palliative medicine, will help us to grow our interventional cancer pain service further. Interventional Psychiatry: Colleagues from psychiatry will provide care via an embedded satellite clinic, and ketamine infusion therapy will be expanded to patients with not just pain but with depression. Anticipated is also growth in research and clinical efforts involving transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) for pain and other conditions. Musculoskeletal Medicine: Expanded clinic and procedural space will allow us to grow our team of experts specializing in integrative and musculoskeletal medicine, including Dr. Heidi Reetz and physiatrist Dr. Nick Brar, employing regenerative medicine and other innovative treatments for patients with complex musculoskeletal pain. The new Bayfront Medical facility represents a significant leap forward in Pain Medicine at UCSF. According to Abrecht, “Our mission at the Center for Pain Medicine is to provide individualized, multidisciplinary, comprehensive care for patients with all nature of pain.” The presence of multiple specialties all under one roof at Bayfront will also make collaboration much easier. The group is excited about the enhanced capabilities and new programs that will allow the faculty and staff to better serve the community and address a broader range of patient needs. Image Photo by Jane Richey
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