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Quality of life in Lancaster attracts neurosurgeons to practice here
 Dr. Chris Kager
Dr. Bill Monacci’s most recent post was Chief of Cranial
Base Surgery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington,
D.C.
With outstanding academic records and proven surgical skills,
these two physicians would be on the short list of candidates
for the top neurosurgical practices around the country.
When the time came to decide where to work and live, each
had the same objective: To find an area with an outstanding
record in the delivery of health care, and one where they
could raise their young families in a healthy environment.
They discovered that Lancaster County fit the bill, and
they now practice at Lancaster NeuroScience and Spine Associates.
They spend their professional lives helping patients here
with brain and spine injuries or illnesses. The doctors
say that what they receive in return here is enriching and
fulfilling. They find Lancaster to be a welcoming place,
with people who are genuinely grateful for the care they
receive. They also appreciate the highly diversified Lancaster
medical community with its progressive teaching atmosphere
and nationally- ranked excellence in critical specialties.
 Dr. Bill Monacci
“I’ve been surprised by the volume of cases that
the LGH trauma center handles,” he said. Dr. Monacci
has high praise for Lancaster’s hospitals, nursing
care and support staffs, and finds the administrations very
helpful. “The medical care is as good as I hoped that
it would be,” he says.
He and his wife, Joi, have joined a local gym, and are very
involved with their children’s school activities. The
Monacci’s four daughters, age nine to 16, are immersed
in tennis, field hockey, gymnastics, soccer and dance.
They are all finding much to like here, exploring on weekends,
enjoying the restaurants, biking on country roads. They
love the scenic beauty of the area, and the interaction
with the Amish. “My wife and I are very impressed by
the outgoing nature of folks,” he said, “and there’s
more to do here than is similar size cities.”
Dr. Monacci stays in close contact with his military colleagues,
and uses the CNN website to follow the work of his friends
at the military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany. He is beginning
to treat patients at the Veterans Hospitals in Lebanon and
Brandywine. As the former Neurosurgery Consultant to the
Army Surgeon General, he is gratified to have this link
to Pennsylvania veterans.
Dr. Chris Kager and his wife Stephanie, a pediatrician,
are also active athletes who have completed three full marathons.
They are enjoying raising their six children in Lancaster,
and spend their free time watching them compete in tennis,
track, and horseback riding.
Some of their time also goes to support the work of Think
First, a national head and spine injury prevention organization
for children. The group works to educate kids on safe behavior
like wearing helmets and avoiding risky behavior. Think
First members go to middle schools and high schools to give
presentations, and take special training each year through
the national group to stay current on trends and new approaches
to keeping kids safe and enlightened. The goal is fewer
injuries and efficient, expedient handling of those that
do occur. Dr. Kager credits the nurses of Lancaster General
Hospital’s Neurosurgical unit with maintaining Think
First on the local level.
“We’re working toward becoming an official satellite
chapter in Lancaster,” he said. “With my wife
being a pediatrician, and me a neurosurgeon, it’s a
natural choice for us, and a way to be involved with our
community.”
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