The Spine Center at Saint Anne’s Hospital provides advanced, coordinated care for conditions of the neck, back and spine. Our combined expertise in neurosurgery, physiatry (physical medicine), pain management, physical and occupational therapy, and nurse navigation ensures that patients are seen by the most appropriate specialist, right from the start.
For more information, please contact us at 855-980-2225 (toll-free) or 508-689-3400.
535 Faunce Corner Road
North Dartmouth, MA 027447
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738 Washington Street
Attleboro, MA 02703
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Non-surgical treatments are often recommended before considering spine surgery, and our expert team provides the latest in non-surgical interventions. Non-surgical spine care is commonly recommended for patients with disc disease, arthritis, spinal stenosis, nerve compression, and chronic back or neck pain. It may also play a key role before or after spinal operations or minimally invasive spine surgery to support recovery and long-term spine health.
Non-surgical treatments available at the Spine Center at Saint Anne’s Hospital include:
The treatment measures strength, mobility, and endurance and helps guide safe return-to-work planning and individualized spine care.
Personalized physical therapy programs focus on strength, flexibility, posture, and movement to improve spinal stability and reduce pain. They often reduce the need for back surgery.
Behavioral medicine services include relaxation training, stress management, and pain reduction techniques. These tools help patients manage chronic pain and improve daily function.
Chronic spine conditions can affect mental health. Psychological interventions support patients coping with pain-related anxiety, depression, and stress, improving overall outcomes.
Our spine doctors carefully manage medications to reduce inflammation, nerve pain, and muscle spasms while minimizing side effects and supporting long-term spine health.
Image-guided spinal injections help reduce inflammation and relieve nerve-related pain. These treatments may also help determine whether spine surgery or spinal surgery is necessary.
Our spine surgery program combines surgical expertise with leading technology and a focus on patient safety and outcomes. The center’s surgeons are experienced in the following back and spine surgery treatments:
Discography is a diagnostic procedure that helps identify the source of chronic back pain by evaluating individual spinal discs.
Stimulation is an option for patients with chronic pain that has not responded to other treatments. This therapy uses electrical signals to help manage pain.
Patients see a reduction in pain, numbness, and weakness after these procedures that relieve pressure on spinal nerves caused by disc herniation or spinal stenosis.
This procedure is used to stabilize the spine by joining two or more vertebrae. It is often recommended for instability, deformity, or advanced degeneration.
The Spine Center at Saint Anne’s Hospital offers advanced minimally invasive and robotic spine surgery for patients with spine and back conditions that have not improved with non-surgical treatment. Minimally invasive spine surgery uses smaller incisions and specialized instruments to treat spine conditions while limiting disruption to surrounding muscles and tissue. When compared with some traditional spinal operations, these techniques may reduce pain, shorten hospital stays, and support a smoother back surgery recovery time.
Minimally invasive and robotic spine surgeries offered at Saint Anne’s Hospital include:
These minimally invasive procedures are used to stabilize vertebral compression fractures, reduce pain, and help restore spinal alignment.
This technique removes a portion of a damaged disc through a small incision to relieve pressure on spinal nerves and reduce pain.
Our spine surgery program features the ExcelsiusGPS® Robotic Navigation System, an advanced platform designed to support minimally invasive spine surgery by improving surgical planning and accuracy, especially during complex spinal operations. (read more about ExcelsiusGPS on globusmedical.com)
No, surgery is not usually the first option for spine treatment. In many cases, non-surgical care is recommended before considering spine surgery. At the Spine Center at Saint Anne’s Hospital, our expert team offers a full range of non-surgical interventions to help manage spine conditions, relieve pain, and improve function. Non-surgical spine care is commonly used to treat disc disease, arthritis, spinal stenosis, nerve compression, and chronic back or neck pain. Non-surgical treatments available at the Spine Center include physical conditioning, rehabilitative programs, behavioral medicine, pain management strategies, and medication management.
During your first visit to the Spine Center at Saint Anne’s Hospital, you can expect a thorough, patient-centered evaluation. A member of our care team will review your medical history, symptoms, prior imaging, and any treatments you have already received. You will then meet with a spine specialist who will perform a physical examination and discuss your concerns and goals.
If additional imaging or diagnostic testing is needed, our team will help coordinate those next steps. From the start, we work with you to determine the most appropriate treatment plan, which often begins with non-surgical options. You will have time to ask questions, review your options, and understand what to expect moving forward.
A nurse navigator is available to assist with scheduling, insurance questions, and care coordination, helping ensure a smooth experience from your first visit through treatment and follow-up.
The Spine Center serves patients at multiple convenient locations in Massachusetts. Spine care and procedures are provided at the Ambulatory Surgery Center, located at 535 Faunce Corner Road, North Dartmouth, MA 02747, and at the Southern New England Surgery Center, located at 738 Washington Street, Attleboro, MA 02703. These locations offer coordinated access to spine specialists, treatment services, and surgical care close to home.
A spine specialist can assess symptoms related to disc disease, arthritis, spinal stenosis, nerve compression, or injury and recommend appropriate care. If your primary care provider has referred you, or if symptoms are worsening or limiting your quality of life, a spine evaluation can help determine the next steps and the most effective treatment options.
Recovery after spine treatment varies depending on the type of care and the patient’s condition. For non-surgical treatments, such as physical therapy, medication management, or spinal injections, many patients notice improvement within a few weeks, though ongoing therapy may be recommended to maintain mobility and reduce pain.
For spine surgery, including minimally invasive or robot-assisted procedures, recovery time depends on the complexity of the operation and individual health factors. Some patients return to light activities within a few weeks, while full recovery and return to normal activities may take several months. Your spine specialist will provide a personalized recovery plan and guidance on activity levels, rehabilitation, and follow-up to support safe healing and long-term spine health.
The Spine Center at Saint Anne's Hospital offers comprehensive spine care led by experienced physicians who specialize in both non-surgical treatment and advanced spine surgery. Our spine doctors and spine specialists work collaboratively to evaluate each patient and recommend care that is appropriate, effective, and tailored to individual needs.
Patients benefit from access to cutting-edge technology, including minimally invasive and robot-assisted spine surgery. At Saint Anne’s Hospital, the Spine Center was the first in Massachusetts to offer ExcelsiusGPS® robotic navigation for spinal surgery, supporting surgical precision and patient safety. Our spinal surgery program has also earned national recognition for quality, reflecting a strong commitment to high standards of care.
Our multidisciplinary team coordinates treatment, rehabilitation, and follow-up to support comfort, mobility, and long-term spine health. Patients receive clear communication about their options, expected outcomes, and recovery planning.
With convenient locations across Massachusetts, the center makes expert spine care accessible close to home.
The Spine Center at Saint Anne’s Hospital is supported by a multidisciplinary team of specialists who work together to deliver coordinated, patient-centered spine care across Massachusetts. Surgeons, physiatrists, and rehabilitation professionals collaborate to evaluate each patient, develop individualized treatment plans, and guide care from diagnosis through recovery.
The center’s team includes experienced physicians such as Steven Cobery, MD, a board-certified neurosurgeon with expertise in trauma, critical care, and complex spine surgery. Dr. Cobery brings a broad clinical background, academic research experience, and a patient-focused philosophy rooted in honesty and compassion. The team also includes Charles W. Kanaly, MD, a graduate of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine with residency training at Duke University, and Alvin Marcovici, MD, a Yale University School of Medicine graduate who completed a residency at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
At the Spine Center, patient navigation and care support are central to the care experience. From the first call through recovery, patients are guided through each step of their care by a dedicated nurse navigator who works closely with providers to coordinate treatment, scheduling, and follow-up.
The nurse navigator serves as a consistent point of contact, helping patients understand their diagnosis, explore treatment options, and access insurance and referral support. From the first visit, the care team collaborates with each patient to determine the most appropriate plan of care often beginning with non-surgical treatment. Our multidisciplinary team streamlines diagnosis and care coordination to reduce delays and simplify a process that can be complex for patients and referring providers.
For more information, please contact us at 855-980-2225 (toll-free) or 508-689-3400.
Our spinal surgery program is the first hospital in Massachusetts to earn The Joint Commission’s “Gold Seal” certification for spinal surgery. We've also earned the Blue Distinction Center for Spine Surgery designation by Blue Cross Blue Shield.
