Comprehensive Epilepsy Care

Our comprehensive epilepsy program has received prestigious recognition for providing high-quality, advanced epilepsy care.

CPMC and Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento are designated as Level 4 Centers by the National Association of Epilepsy Centers — the highest level a center can receive in the treatment of patients with complex epilepsy.

Mills Peninsula Medical Center is designated as a Level 3 Epilepsy Center by the National Association of Epilepsy Centers — bringing advanced evaluation and care closer to home, so you can manage seizures and get back to what matters.

Our neurodiagnostic laboratory received a five-year accreditation by the American Board of Registration of Electroencephalographic Technologists.

Call 911 if you have a seizure and have never had one before. If you have a seizure disorder, make a seizure plan with your family, friends, coworkers and teachers. Tell them to call 911 if:

• You don’t start breathing normally after a seizure.
• You have a seizure in water.
• Your seizure lasts more than 5 minutes.
• You have another seizure right after the first one.
• You’re pregnant and you have a seizure.
• You have diabetes or a serious illness and have a seizure.
• You get hurt during a seizure.

An epileptologist is a neurologist trained to care for people with epilepsy. In addition to our comprehensive epilepsy centers, Sutter has epileptologists spread across Northern California to provide care for you close to home.

A comprehensive (Level 4) epilepsy center specializes in treating patients with uncontrollable seizures, otherwise known as intractable, drug-resistant or refractory epilepsy. By combining the expertise of epileptologists, neurosurgeons, neuropsychologists, nurse specialists, EEG technologists, social workers and other specialists, these centers provide exceptional, patient-focused care.

A Level 4 center provides more complex forms of neurodiagnostic monitoring and more extensive medical, neuropsychological and psychosocial treatment. These centers provide in-depth evaluations to locate the source of your seizures. When the source is found, the centers offer a wide array of surgical procedures for epilepsy.

A Level 3 epilepsy center is also accredited by the National Association of Epilepsy Centers (NAEC), for people whose seizures aren't controlled by standard medications. You get advanced diagnostics like long-term video-EEG monitoring and neuroimaging, medical management by epileptologists, and basic surgical options such as vagus nerve stimulators (VNS). Level 3 centers don't perform complex intracranial EEG or invasive brain surgery monitoring — that's where Level 4 centers come in, as higher-tier regional referral sites offering the most advanced surgical techniques.

For people with uncontrolled seizures, a delayed or denied referral can pose serious health risks. If your seizures aren’t under control, talk with your primary care doctor or neurologist about a referral to one of Sutter’s comprehensive epilepsy centers.