For a year now, New Tampa and Wesley Chapel residents have been able to find relief for their neurological problems without having to drive very far at all. The Neuro Center, where Drs. Mohamad Saleh and Hassan Bitar have a combined 35 years of experience, provides compassionate, state-of-the-art care on Cross Creek Blvd. at Morris Bridge Rd., in the same building that also is home to Zaytoun Mediterranean Grill and The Clinicians Primary Care.
In the 3,500-sq.-ft. office, patients are treated for a variety of conditions, including headaches, migraines, neuropathic pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, peripheral neuropathy, back and neck pain, seizures, nerve disease, muscle disease and cognitive disorders (including Alzheimer’s, dementia and other memory problems).
Patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease, vertigo, movement disorders, sleep disorders, learning and attention problems and neuromuscular disorders also can be treated at the Neuro Center.
“The practice is growing for all age groups,” says Dr. Saleh. “From the elderly with neurological disorders to young kids with migraines, seizures and ADHD —and everybody in between.”
Dr. Saleh was born in Damascus, Syria, and Dr. Bitar in Jordan, but both consider themselves “Tampa boys,” having lived in the area for decades. Both doctors not only attended the nearby University of South Florida in Tampa, they both have two children currently attending USF (in addition to two of Dr. Saleh’s children, who previously graduated from USF).
“This is our home,” says Dr. Saleh.
Dr. Saleh obtained his Medical Doctor degree from Damascus University in 1982 before moving to the U.S. in 1984. He obtained a Ph.D. in neuropharmacology from East Tennessee State University in Johnson City in 1988, and began his residency in St Louis before transferring to the University of South Florida, from where he completed his residency in neurology in 1992.
Dr. Saleh says his areas of interest include spine care, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, dementia, migraines and Alzheimer’s disease.
He is married with four sons — all USF grads — and enjoys chess and writing. He’s also on the stroke team at Southbay Hospital in Sun City Center.
Dr. Bitar received his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degree from the University of Jordan in Amman in 1989. He moved to the U.S. in 1992 to study internal medicine at Boston University and, in 1995, completed his residency and received his Board certification in internal medicine.
He worked for a year at Waltham Hospital in Massachusetts before moving to Clearwater, where he practiced internal medicine and primary care medicine until 2003, when he began to study neurology at USF.
In 2006, he completed his specialty in neurology and in 2010 and became Board-certified in neurology by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. He joined Dr. Saleh at the Brandon Neuro Center in 2006.
His areas of special interest include stroke, dementia, multiple sclerosis and neuro imaging. He also is on the stroke team at Southbay Hospital in Sun City Center, as well as at Brandon Regional Hospital. Dr. Bitar is married with two sons and two daughters, and he says he is an avid reader.
Both doctors also lecture about neuroscience at area high schools and enrichment centers.
Dr. Saleh started the Neuro Center in Hernando County in 1992, seeing patients from Brooksville and Spring Hill. In 2006, he opened a practice in Brandon. And, in 2015, he opened the additional New Tampa office.
Today, he sees patients from all over the Tampa Bay area, including Brooksville, Sun City, Riverview, Carrollwood, Wesley Chapel and Lutz.
A State-Of-The-Art Facility
Patients at the Neuro Center have access to onsite testing such as electro encephalography (EEG) for seizures and anticoagulant function; EMG/NCV (electromyography/Nerve Conduction Velocity) for muscle and nerve testing to evaluate muscle and nerve diseases such as carpal tunnel syndrome, neuropathy, and myopathy; and Neurocognitive Testing, a computerized assessment to check memory, mental speed and other cognitive functions.
The practice also offers trigger point injections for pain; Botox injections for migraines, spasms affiliated with both stroke and Parkinson’s disease; and nerve blocks for sciatica and lower back pain.
In addition to the physicians, Neuro Center patients are served by a stable and experienced staff of four technicians, four nurses (one of whom, Maria Lambert, has been with Dr. Saleh for 25 years) and four office staffers who help obtain authorizations and handle billing.
The office accepts all insurance plans, and Lambert also speaks Spanish.
“We go out of our way to really help people, especially with this complicated health care system,” says Dr. Saleh. “We have a great relationship with all the (local) hospitals and primary care doctors. Appointments are very quick. Nobody waits on us.”
A patient named Laila says she moved to Wesley Chapel from Pennsylvania in December 2014 and immediately started looking for a neurologist to help with her osteoarthritis.
“They are very friendly, professional and on time,” Laila says. “Dr. Saleh really takes the time to listen. He’s the kind of person who would remember what you’d spoken about before. Some doctors just seem to read from the paper.”
Some patients have been with Neuro Care for 20 years or more, and that’s partly because the doctors treat patients, not symptoms, but also because of the changing nature of the specialty.
“Neurology has become like neuro primary care,” says Dr. Saleh. “As the community grows older, the need for neurological services is growing with it.”
They may enjoy the intellectual puzzle-solving aspects of neuroscience, but the doctors agree that the true gratification comes from caring for people.
“It is a privilege and a blessing to be a physician,” says Dr. Saleh. “People trust you, open their hearts to you and expect you to do the same and give them your full attention and expertise. We are here to ease their worry, hold their hand and take care of them. Regardless of what health care does to us [as physicians], at the end of the day, it is a passion and a joy of life to take care of people.”
The New Tampa Neuro Center is located at 10970 Cross Creek Blvd. For more information, call 813-345-4135 or visit visit CommunityNeuroCenter.com.
