Brad Torphy, MD
Inpatient Unit Reception
she works closely with Dr. Merle Diamond, caring for pa-
tients in both the clinic and the inpatient unit. Ms. Johnston
focuses on creating integrative treatment plans with a special
emphasis on yoga and meditation.
At the Diamond Headache Clinic, the staff includes: Kon-
rad Kothmann, the CFO/COO; Brian Wolf and Amy
Hatton, Procedure Coordinators; Harriet Marcelles,
Staff Operations Manager; Sonia Rodriguez, New Patient
Coordinator; Dr. Elena Feoktistov, Research; and, Steven
Mui, Project Coordinator for Research and Technology.
In 1981, Dr. Seymour Diamond established a self-con-
tained inpatient unit for refractory headache patients. The
43-bed Unit is now located at Presence-Saint Joseph Hos-
pital, Chicago, and is located across from Lincoln Park. In
addition to the Clinic physicians and physician assistants,
the staff of the inpatient unit is multidisciplinary. It includes
the Director of Behavioral Medicine, Andrew Beaty, PsyD,
who joined the staff in 2012. Dr. Beatty earned his doctorate
in clinical psychology from the Chicago School of Profes-
sional Psychology. He completed his pre-doctoral internship
and post-doctoral fellowship in clinical psychology at the
Isaac Ray Center/Cermak Health Services of Cook County.
He holds academic appointments at Midwestern University/
Behavioral Medicine Department and the Chicago School of
Professional Psychology. Dr. Beatty specializes in health psy-
chology and provides individual therapy, group therapy, and
neuropsychological assessment to patients and their families.
Richard Wenzel, PharmD serves as an integral part of
the Diamond Headache Inpatient Unit’s multidisciplinary
approach as the Staff Pharmacologist. Dr. Wenzel joined
the staff in 1999. He received his Doctor of Pharmacy at
the University of Illinois. In addition to his responsibili-
ties to the entire hospital, Dr. Wenzel provides classes for
the inpatients on the Unit to reinforce education about the
medications that they are using. He has designed written and
video patient educational material, as well as pharmacy and
nursing staff development, and provides drug information
Alexander Feokitstov, MD
to physicians and other health care professionals. He serves
as a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois-
Chicago, Department of Pharmacy Practice. Academic
posts at other Colleges of Pharmacy include Midwestern
University (Downers Grove, IL), Drake University (Des
Moines, IA), University of Iowa (Iowa City, IA), University
of Arizo na (Tucson, AZ), and Southern Illinois University
(Edwardsville, IL).
The health care team at the Unit include nurses, medi-
cal assistants, biofeedback technicians, physical and activity
therapists, counselors, and a dietician. These individuals are
involved in the various aspects of the inpatient’s experience
on the Unit, and are knowledgeable in the care of the head-
ache patient.
Patients of all ages experiencing disabling headaches, in-
cluding children, are evaluated at the Clinic. A referral from
a health care practitioner (HCP) is not necessary although
the Clinic physicians would be happy to coordinate care with
your local HCP. Patients have visited the Clinic from all 50
states, and the physicians have treated international patients.
The majority of the patients at the Clinic are middle-aged
women, suffering from severe, daily, and debilitating head-
aches. Many patients have coexisting conditions associ-
ated with their headaches, including mental health disorders
(anxiety, depression, bi-polar disorder) and obesity.
The Diamond Headache Clinic does not specialize in
one particular headache type. Headache conditions that are
assessed include: chronic migraine with or without aura;
cluster headache; hemicrania continua; medication-overuse
headache; New Daily Persistent Headache; post-traumatic
headache; menstrual headaches; hemiplegic migraine;
chronic tension-type headaches; and, pediatric migraine.
A typical day at the Clinic starts at 8:30am, when patients
begin to arrive. On average, 60 to 80 patients are evaluated
at the Clinic per day. For the health care team, their day has
started earlier when rounds are made at the Inpatient Unit.
During that time, the hospitalized patients will be assessed
www.headaches.org
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National Headache Foundation
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