The PARS Brain and Spine Institute was founded in 2005 with a vision of increasing the access to highly specialized neurological and neurosurgical care for the Mid-Ohio Valley's citizens. While PARS has grown tremendously, its core values remain focused on promoting comprehensive, compassionate and patient-centered care. To celebrate more than ten years of service to the region, PARS established the PARS Brain and Spine Institute Charitable Fund with the Parkersburg Area Community Foundation (PACF).

Originally founded by Houman Khosrovi, M.D., Rammy Gold, M.D., and Abdi Ghodsi, M.D., PARS has grown to include five board-certified physicians, nine mid-level practitioners, and over seventy highly trained medical professionals. Each year, over 3500 new patients are referred to PARS with a variety of neurological disorders. With multiple locations, most patients travel less than twenty-five miles for specialized care typically only offered in major metropolitan areas.

"Our community has been very supportive of PARS and we are so appreciative," said Dr. Khosrovi. "Because of this support, we feel it is imperative to give back to the place we have called "home' for many years. We are excited to launch this charitable giving partnership with the PACF so that as the fund grows, we can address important needs/causes in the region through grantmaking and community engagement."

The new PARS Brain and Spine Institute Charitable Fund of the PACF allows PARS to address key community issues while gaining the community grantmaking expertise, administrative management and investment services offered by the Parkersburg Area Community Foundation.

"One of our first endeavors is to assist in engaging the region's unserved youth, primarily elementary students, with art and music and connecting them to educational opportunities," said Lynn McCormick, Director of Community Outreach and Charitable Giving at PARS. "We are currently working to establish a free after-school program at Jefferson Elementary in Parkersburg that will begin in September. At PARS, we fully believe that music education is an integral part of development of a child's mind and we want to take a proactive step to ensure music and art education is available to all elementary students. This is a grassroots effort to help battle drugs, improve attendance at school, grow children's talent, improve self-esteem, expand higher-cognitive creative thinking skills, and help children find their personal voice through creative expression."