Sansum Clinic Welcomes Dr. Sean Keem,
Spine Surgeon Specializing in Minimally Invasive Endoscopic Spine Surgery
July 22, 2024 (Santa Barbara, CA) Sansum Clinic, now part of Sutter Health, is pleased to announce that Dr. Sean Keem, a board-certified and fellowship-trained spine surgeon with specialized training and experience in minimally invasive spine surgery (MIS) has joined Sansum Clinic’s Orthopedics Department and will be performing surgeries at its Foothill Surgery Center.
“As people live longer, spinal diseases are becoming more common and the demand for MIS is increasing,” commented Dr. Keem. “Endoscopic spine surgery (ESS), the latest advancement in MIS, allows us to perform next-level MIS with minimal tissue trauma, less blood loss and need for pain medication, and faster recovery than more traditional spine surgical approaches while achieving a superior outcome to address patients’ conditions.”
“Our partners within Sutter Health connected us with Dr. Keem, knowing our desire to expand access to our outpatient surgery services,” said Dr. Kurt Ransohoff, President, Sutter Health Greater Central Coast. “The strength and success of the Sutter Health system was an important factor in Dr. Keem choosing to continue his medical career with us, and we are excited about the contributions he brings to the care we offer.”
MIS can be used to address the full array of degenerative spinal ailments including disc herniations with sciatica, spinal stenosis with radiculopathy (pinched nerve) and myelopathy (spinal cord condition caused by compression which can cause pain, numbness, weakness), and spinal deformities such as spondylolisthesis and scoliosis. Technological innovations make it possible to use MIS to address more spine conditions. During endoscopic spine surgery for instance, the surgeon makes ½ inch-incisions to insert a camera and instruments. “The high-resolution camera lets me see the disc space and nerve roots in great definition to visualize and address the pathology while minimizing injury to vital structures,” explains Dr. Keem. Compared to traditional open spine procedures which require larger instruments and more extensive tissue dissection, the use of MIS, especially ESS, provides a better chance to achieve the desired surgical outcome for the patients while greatly reducing the risk for surgery-related complications, according to Dr. Keem.
Dr. Keem received his medical degree from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and completed his orthopedic surgery residency at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. He completed his spine surgery fellowship at the Combined Program of St. Anthony Trauma Hospital-Craig Spinal Cord Injury Hospital- Children’s Hospital in Denver. He received an MBA from Foster School of Business at the University of Washington in Seattle, and a BA in biology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Since completing his fellowship, Dr. Keem has worked in multiple tertiary referral centers in Atlanta and Seattle for the past 20 years. Before joining Sansum Clinic, Keem worked as an MIS surgeon at the Swedish Medical Center in Seattle. He has presented the latest spine surgical techniques at numerous medical conferences around the world. He has performed deformity corrective spine surgeries in Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya during his mission trip to Africa, and was honored by the U.S. Army’s 5th Ranger Training Battalion in Dahlonega, GA, for his service to Army Rangers with spinal injuries.
In his role, Dr. Keem will be working with Sansum Clinic and community orthopedic surgeons, primary care clinicians, pain management specialists, physical medicine and rehabilitation physicians, neurologists, radiologists and physical therapists, when they encounter patients with symptoms or concerns consistent with spinal diseases or conditions.
Dr. Keem is practicing at Foothill Surgery Center at 4151 Foothill Road in Santa Barbara, an AAAHC accredited facility which was recently recognized in U.S. News & World Report's 2024 “Best ASCs” issue.
“Our whole mission at Foothill Surgery Center is to provide excellent care and to get people back home, back on their feet and back to their regular activities as soon as possible. We can accomplish that in less than a day here instead of a few overnights. Patients are more frequently choosing outpatient surgery centers for all these reasons,” Tom Parra, Director, Sansum Clinic Ambulatory Surgery Service Line.
The newly expanded surgery center has a new nurses station, and 22 bays where patients can recover. The center also now has 4 spaces to accommodate 23-hour stays for patients who require a lengthier monitoring period. Additional funds from Sutter Health allowed FSC to expand from 4 state-of-the-art operating rooms to 7, accommodating more patients sooner for procedures. This expanded capacity is one of many projects that Sutter and Sansum leaders have championed since the beginning of partnership discussions and is part of Sutter’s plans to fund the expansion of access to care through several projects in the Santa Barbara region in the coming years.
Sansum Clinic, now part of Sutter Health, is the leading nonprofit provider of high-quality, outpatient healthcare on the Central Coast. Both Sansum and Sutter share a century-long commitment to improving the health of their communities and have embarked upon this partnership to shape the future of healthcare for those they serve. Sansum Clinic’s 200+ highly trained doctors and compassionate staff of 1,200+ care for more than 125,000 individual patients per year, contributing significantly to the medical quality in Santa Barbara, which has a long history of being advanced despite its small size.
Sutter Health is a not-for-profit healthcare system dedicated to providing comprehensive care throughout California. Committed to health equity, community partnerships, and innovative, high-quality patient care, Sutter Health is pursuing a bold new plan to reach more people and make excellent healthcare more connected and accessible. Currently serving nearly 3.5 million patients, thanks to our dedicated team of more than 57,000 employees and clinicians, and 12,000+ affiliated physicians, with a unified focus on expanding care to serve more patients.
Sutter Health delivers exceptional and affordable care through its hospitals, medical groups, ambulatory surgery centers, urgent care clinics, telehealth, home health, and hospice services. Dedicated to transforming healthcare, at Sutter Health, getting better never stops.