IRVINE, Calif., October 9, 2018 — Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute at Hoag is pleased to announce Gregory T. Whitman, M.D., board-certified neurologist, as the newest specialist to join its Memory & Cognitive Disorders Program. In his role, Dr. Whitman will expand access to specialized care and provide clinical evaluation and comprehensive management of cognitive impairment, including Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders at Hoag Health Center Irvine.
“We are excited to welcome Dr. Whitman to the Hoag team and expand memory and cognitive disorders services. His experience and expertise will make him a great resource for our community,” said William R. Shankle, M.S., M.D., F.A.C.P., program director, and the Judy & Richard Voltmer Endowed Chair in Memory and Cognitive Disorders at Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute at Hoag. “Given the progressive aging of our population, we need more clinicians who can help address prevention, early detection and treatment for cognitive issues.”
Dr. Whitman served as Medical Director of the UC Irvine Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center of California, where he gained exceptional experience with dementia and Alzheimer’s patients. In addition, with more than 20 years of experience as an otoneurologist specializing in vertigo and dizziness, Dr. Whitman has also served as an Instructor of Otolaryngology at Harvard Medical School and as a neurologist at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
Dr. Whitman graduated from medical school at the University of Connecticut and did his residency training in Neurology at Boston City Hospital and Tufts Medical School, after which he completed a two-year Otoneurology fellowship at UCLA.
Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute’s Memory & Cognitive Disorders Program specializes in the management of cognitive health, including identifying risk factors, preventative care, monitoring cognition, and early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders. Hoag also provides the Orange County Vital Brain Aging Program (OCVBAP), a community-wide, multi-disciplinary program, supported by grants and philanthropy, dedicated to raising awareness about Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders. With a goal to help individuals maintain a healthy brain for life, OCVBAP offers free education seminars, self-education and online self-assessment tools, in-person memory assessment services, as well as access to community resources. By encouraging annual monitoring of cognition after age 45, OCVBAP promotes early detection and intervention to help you maintain your brain health as you age.
“The key to monitoring your cognitive health is getting a baseline while you are young and well before any changes have occurred,” said Dr. Shankle. “Hoag is committed to achieving breakthroughs in the detection of cognitive impairment at its earliest possible stage and helping individuals slow the progression of Alzheimer’s symptoms.”
ABOUT THE PICKUP FAMILY NEUROSCIENCES INSTITUTE
Delivering a personalized, integrated approach using best-practice guidelines, the most advanced technology, and integration of medical specialists in the most appropriate facilities, the Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute (PFNI) at Hoag provides the highest quality care for patients with brain and spine disorders including stroke, aneurysms and vascular malformations, brain tumors, epilepsy, movement disorders, memory and cognitive disorders, pain, minimally invasive spine surgery, multiple sclerosis, addiction medicine and sleep disorders, as well as the mind-body interface of behavioral health. Several of Hoag’s PFNI programs have received high acclaim, including the stroke program at Hoag, which was the first hospital in Orange County and the second in California to be named a Certified Comprehensive Stroke Center by DNV GL Healthcare. It was awarded the American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines Stroke Gold Plus Performance Achievement for stroke care. And as one of the first centers in the U.S. to offer the most advanced radiosurgical treatment system available, Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™, Hoag’s brain tumor program is the largest in Orange County and is also among the top volume programs in the western United States. The epilepsy program is an accredited Level 3 center. The PFNI’s memory and cognitive disorders program is nationally recognized.
ABOUT HOAG MEMORIAL HOSPITAL PRESBYTERIAN
Hoag is an approximately $1 billion nonprofit, regional health care delivery network in Orange County, California, that treats more than 30,000 inpatients and 425,000 outpatients annually. Hoag consists of two acute-care hospitals – Hoag Hospital Newport Beach, which opened in 1952, and Hoag Hospital Irvine, which opened in 2010 – in addition to eight health centers and 11 urgent care centers. Hoag is a designated Magnet® hospital by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). Hoag offers a comprehensive blend of health care services that includes five institutes providing specialized services in the following areas: cancer, heart and vascular, neurosciences, women’s health, and orthopedics through Hoag’s affiliate, Hoag Orthopedic Institute, which consists of an orthopedic hospital and two ambulatory surgical centers. In 2013, Hoag entered into an alliance with St. Joseph Health to further expand health care services in the Orange County community, known as St. Joseph Hoag Health. Hoag has been named one of the Best Regional Hospitals in the 2018 – 2019 U.S. News & World Report, and Becker’s Healthcare named Hoag as one of the 2018 “100 Great Hospitals in America” – a designation Hoag has received five times. For an unprecedented 23 years, residents of Orange County have chosen Hoag as one of the county’s best hospitals in a local newspaper survey. Visit www.hoag.org for more information.
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