Former Galenian starts neurosurgery program

Former Galenian Dr. Catherine Miller is back in the tri-state area and starting a new neurosurgery program at UnityPoint–Finley Hospital in Dubuque, Iowa.

After working at University of California–San Francisco as an assistant professor of neurosurgery and running her own practice, Miller reached out to the CEO of Finley Hospital.

“I was looking for a new job, got in touch with the CEO here, and they kind of started looking to see if it’s actually an option in the area,” Miller said. “And I think that they saw that we were sending a lot of people from Dubuque and the tri-state areas to Iowa City or Madison. They have to make those long trips, so I think they figured that it would be helpful to have neurosurgery here.”

Dubuque hasn’t offered neurosurgery care since the ‘90s, so Miller is starting the program anew.

“We’re kind of building it from ground zero,” Miller said. “There hasn’t been anyone here in a long time. So yeah, it’s very exciting.”

As a neurosurgeon, Miller can perform cranial brain and spine surgery, but she said she is starting small by only offering spinal care. She will offer cranial brain care in a year or two.

The neurosurgery clinic opened on Monday, Oct. 31, and Miller started meeting with outpatients then. She will begin patient consults in the next couple weeks.

Miller said she guesses the hospital will be ready for surgeries in early December. Finley Hospital is still waiting on some neurosurgery equipment to be delivered.

Miller discovered she wanted to become a neurosurgeon when she shadowed a cardiothoracic surgeon during her sophomore year at Galena High School.

“He took me into a neurosurgery room because we were in between cases, and I saw them clipping an aneurysm and that was it,” she said.

After graduating from Galena High School in 2001, she went to University of Wisconsin–Madison and then attended medical school at Rush University Medical College. She finished her seven-year residency at University of Minnesota before spending a year at University of California–San Francisco for a minimally invasive and complex spine fellowship.

She worked in San Francisco for four more years before coming back to the area.

“Everyone has been so inviting, and so excited that I’m here,” she said. “. . .when I was out in San Francisco, I felt like a little fish in a big pond. No one really appreciated what you did, whereas here I feel like there’s such a need for it.”

She said it’s good being in the area again. Miller’s parents, Jamie and Barb Miller, and her brother only live 15 minutes away from her, so her kids get the opportunity to be around them.

Miller noted that her role as a neurosurgeon is different from a neurologist. The neurologists see patients with headaches and multiple sclerosis where neurosurgeons focus on surgery.

Patients can see Miller if their doctor refers them to her.