Roxy’s return: surgical tech postpones retirement to work in North America’s first neurosurgery suite of its kind at Children’s Minnesota

Roxy’s new chapter

Operating room surgical technologist Roxy Lind has worked on Children’s Minnesota’s neurosurgery team for nearly four decades.

Roxy has played a key role in the operating rooms (ORs) at our Minneapolis hospital during countless neurosurgery procedures. She ensures every stage of each delicate brain and spine procedure is seamless – from prepping the surgical supplies in the OR, to making sure neurosurgeons have the right instruments in-hand at the right time.

“It was a passion for pediatrics that inspired my career,” Roxy explained. “I always wanted to do it.”

Like most people with 37 years invested in their job, Roxy considered retiring in 2022. But rather than hanging up her scrubs for good, she decided to continue her time in the OR. The reason: Roxy wanted to care for patients in the first neurosurgery suite of its kind on the entire continent.

Roxy Lind, operating room surgical technologist at Children's Minnesota

A new era in neurosurgery at Children’s Minnesota

Roxy started her first shift at our Minneapolis hospital’s OR in January 1985. In the mid-80’s, robot-assisted surgeries started to become mainstream. Since then, Roxy has seen firsthand the evolution of neurosurgery technology at Children’s Minnesota. That technological evolution is about to enter a new era.

In 2023, our Minneapolis hospital will open the first pediatric hybrid intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging (iMRI) neurosurgery suite in North America that’s equipped with both moving-scanner and moving-patient MRI technology in the same surgical space.

iMRI suite MPLS — The Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation iMRI Surgical Suite (click on image to enlarge)

“It’s a big deal, it’s a huge service we can bring to our patient families,” Roxy said. “It’s state-of-the-art and futuristic.”

Children of all ages will undergo neurosurgery procedures across a spectrum of needs, including: brain tumors, epilepsy, spina bifida, traumatic injuries and more.

GIVE NOW

Help us raise ’em up. Children’s Minnesota is building a better future for all kids — but we can’t do it without you. Please give today. So every child can reach their best health.

Designed to improve patient outcomes

The neurosurgery facility is called the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation iMRI Surgical Suite. It shares the same name as the philanthropic foundation that generously committed a $5.5 million lead gift to the iMRI suite.

Children’s Minnesota’s neurosciences program and radiology department will use the 2,970 square-foot suite to perform both brain and total spine scans mid-procedure all within the same surgical space. Here, experts will make updated, real-time, clinical decisions at the point of care based on each scans’ results. For example, if an additional brain tumor is detected by a mid-procedure scan, the surgical team can develop a plan in real-time to remove the remaining cancerous tissue.

“Our new iMRI suite is a game changer and enhances how we make important decisions in the operating room before a patient’s incision is even closed,” said Dr. Meysam Kebriaei, medical director of the neurosurgery program at Children’s Minnesota. “This crucial process will help prevent additional procedures for many of our patients and maximize their chances for a good outcome.”

The design of the three-room iMRI suite allows experts to seamlessly move a 16,200-pound 3T MRI scanner directly from the facility’s diagnostic room into one of the space’s neurosurgery operating rooms via a ceiling-mounted rail system. The suite’s self-contained floorplan also allows patients undergoing surgeries in the facility’s second operating room to be moved next door into the diagnostic room for a mid-procedure scan.

“The ability to take advantage of both moving-scanner and moving-patient models of intraoperative MRI support is a first, and combined with the use of a 3T MRI scanner will give us powerful tools to provide the best possible care for our patients and families,” said Dr. William Mize, medical director of radiology at Children’s Minnesota. “The design also allows for diagnostic scanning of patients without disruption of the adjacent operating rooms, adding to our capacity to provide this critically important imaging modality.”

Roxy’s next chapter

January 1985 marked the first chapter of Roxy’s career in the neurosurgery ORs at Children’s Minnesota. March 2023 will not serve as the final chapter, but rather the next when procedures are anticipated to begin in the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation iMRI Surgical Suite.

“It’s an honor,” Roxy explained. “I’m excited, I’m happy for Children’s Minnesota and how it will improve patient outcomes.”

An opportunity to support the iMRI suite and Children’s Minnesota

Having already made a $4 million lead gift, the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation launched an additional $1.5 million matching challenge to further support the new iMRI suite and the neurosciences program at Children’s Minnesota. The challenge is happening from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2023. If the community gives $1.5 million exclusively to this challenge, the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation will match the amount. You can give here.