Dr. Tom Lorish has maintained a successful physiatry practice and a valued relationship with Providence Health & Services since 1989. He has played a pivotal role in the development of Providence Brain Institute and in its evolution into a center of excellence within the health system.
Dr. Lorish joined Providence as the medical director of Rehabilitation Services at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in 1989. Over the years, his leadership responsibilities expanded to include medical direction for Providence Health & Services’s regional Neurosciences, Orthopedics and Rehabilitation programs, as well as associate medical director responsibilities for Providence Health Plans. As a practicing clinician, a program medical director and a health plan leader, Dr. Lorish has a wealth of experience in all facets of an integrated delivery system. This breadth of experience has given him a uniquely broad and balanced perspective from which to draw in shepherding new programs and services to improve patients’ health.
Dr. Lorish earned his medical degree at Oregon Health & Science University and completed a residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation at the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine in Rochester, Minn. He is a past president of the Oregon Medical Association’s Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Section and has served on the Oregon Physical Therapy Licensing Board.
He has been a clinical instructor of orthopedics and rehabilitation at OHSU since 1989.
- In addition to helping shape the vision for Providence
Brain Institute,
Dr. Lorish was instrumental in establishing Providence Stroke Center, Providence Epilepsy Center, Providence ALS Center and Providence
Multiple Sclerosis Center. - Dr. Lorish led the expansion of Providence’s hospital-based Rehabilitation Services into a community-based program that operates from 28 convenient locations, employs more than 200 therapists and delivers high-quality care focused on successful outcomes.
"In the next five years, we plan to expand Providence Brain Institute’s services to include an expanded cranial surgery program, deep-brain stimulation, epilepsy surgery and other services," says Dr. Lorish. "We also will expand our participation in clinical research to seek out new drugs and therapies for neurological and neurosurgical patients. It’s gratifying to be able to improve the lives of my own patients, as well as patients I may never meet, through the programs and services I have the opportunity to help develop."