ISPINE CLINICS - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Member of the Pain Care Team
Allie was born and raised in the northern suburbs of the Twin Cities. She completed her Bachelor of Science degree in Health Sciences, minored in Spanish, and received an Applied Business Certificate from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities in 2016. She then attended Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock, Texas to obtain her Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies degree. During the program, she acquired medical knowledge, clinical skills, and healthcare experience in hospitals and clinics throughout the west Texas region. She became board-certified and licensed to practice in the state of Minnesota in 2020.
Allie is dedicated to providing individualized, comprehensive, and high-quality care. She understands each chronic pain journey is unique and believes in creating personalized treatment plans and offering a variety of pain management interventions. She enjoys working together with her patients to improve their health, level of function, and overall quality of life.
In her free time, Allie enjoys being outside and by the lake, playing piano, going to Twins games, and spending time with friends and family.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Pain Care Team
Alex is committed to providing comprehensive patient care by tailoring an individualized treatment plan and utilizing a multi-disciplinary approach. Alex enjoys the complexity of treating chronic pain and the opportunity to build rapport with patients.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Pain Care Team
Alexis Bolick, PA-C, grew up in Southern Minnesota and graduated from the University of Minnesota, Duluth in 2006. After she obtained her bachelor's degree in Biology, she relocated to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She then graduated from Chatham University in 2009.
Alexis is board-certified by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA). She has been working in pain management since 2012 and also has experience in family practice and acute care.
"As a Physician Assistant I am able to spend more time with my patients. I use this time to discuss a patient's priorities and values so an individualized treatment plan can be created. Chronic pain is multifactorial. There is often more to be considered than the physical injury itself. Therefore, the treatment plan can be complex, including discussion on the importance of whole foods, stress management, restorative sleep, daily movement, and mindfulness." - Alexis Bolick, PA-C
When Alexis is not in the clinic, she enjoys spending time with her family, being outside, reading, traveling, and practicing yoga.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Pain Care Team
Alyssa grew up in southeastern Minnesota and graduated with a Bachelor of Applied Science in Community Health Education from the University of Minnesota Duluth in 2012. She then earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Minnesota School of Business in 2015. She earned her Masters of Science in Nursing from George Washington University in Washington, DC in 2019. Alyssa is a member of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, Golden Key International Honor Society, the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, and is certified by American Nurses Credentialing Center.
With a background in health education, Alyssa enjoys educating her patients on their condition and treatment options. Alyssa grew up with parents in the medical field and knew from a young age that medicine was her passion. Prior to beginning her career as a Nurse Practitioner, Alyssa worked as a Registered Nurse in the hospital, clinic, and transitional care settings. Alyssa enjoys collaborating with her patients in order to create a unique plan of care that fits with the patient's functional and lifestyle goals aiming to address the physical, mental, and emotional needs of the patient.
In her free time, Alyssa enjoys walking her dog, spending time on the lake, traveling, and camping.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Pain Care Team
Danielle was born and raised in the Twin Cities. She went to school for her bachelor's degree at The College of St. Scholastica in Duluth. She worked as a nurse for 12 years. Her nursing experience included Neuro ICU, trauma, and neuromodulation. She went to Walden University for her Masters degree. She is certified by the American Association of Nurse Practitioners.
Danielle likes to incorporate multiple modalities to help her patients from a holistic perspective. Her favorite part about her job is when patients are able to regain function and strength.
In her spare time Danielle enjoys reading, excercising, and spending time with family.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Pain Care Team
Born and raised in the Denver, Colorado metropolitan area, Dr. Jason S. Wolff graduated from Colorado State University with a major in Microbiology. He attended medical school at Creighton University and graduated Cum Laude with a Doctorate of Medicine (MD) in 2002. During medical school, he was a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha honor society.
He completed his residency in Anesthesiology at Washington University in St. Louis and served as the Chief Resident in his final year. Dr. Wolff went on to complete an Interventional Pain Management fellowship at Washington University in St. Louis. During his fellowship, he developed technical proficiency in a variety of minimally invasive interventional pain treatment methods. He has board certification in both Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine.
After his fellowship, Dr. Wolff moved to Minnesota where he has been practicing Interventional Pain Management ever since. Dr. Wolff is one of the founders and remains a medical director at iSpine Clinics and has particular interests in interventional pain management and advancing his specialty. To this end, he is currently the principle investigator for a study on closed-loop spinal cord stimulation with Medtronic. Dr. Wolff also provides instruction to other physicians on interventional pain procedures such as spinal cord stimulation and vertebral augmentation and routinely participates in lecturing events for other providers.
"I became interested in the specialty of Interventional Pain during my internship. I had the chance to do an elective rotation with a clinic in Denver that was on the cutting edge of this new specialty. I could see at that time that there were new pain care advancements that were just being implemented in communities for the benefit of patients with pain but I also had a chance to see that there would be rapid change in the specialty in years to come that I wanted to be part of. The reason I focus on interventional pain management is because it provides patients with chronic pain the greatest opportunity to gain satisfactory relief without requiring oral medications. If the patient is already on an oral medication for pain, interventions may help reduce or eliminate the need for these medications, and I want to be a part of that journey for them.
Even with all of the advances that have occurred in my field to care for patients with chronic pain, this illness can still be difficult to manage regardless of the source of the pain. With that being said, I look at myself as being a guide for patients to help manage the probabilities that they may improve with a particular care plan. I try to be open and honest about success rates and review risk/benefit ratios with each patient so that we can make decisions together for their best interest, but also leave the patient with a feeling that they still have control over their illness and treatment plan pathway." - Dr. Jason S. Wolff
Dr. Wolff is married to Anne, who is a Rheumatologist and they have two children, Audrey and Noah. He enjoys traveling, exercising and spending time with family.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Pain Care Team
Dustin Ward, MD grew up in Lakeville, Minnesota. He was Valedictorian at St. Mary's University in Winona, MN, with a degree in Chemistry and BioPhysics. After completing undergraduate education, he moved to Omaha, Nebraska where he received his medical degree from Creighton University Medical School in 2007. He subsequently completed his residency in Anesthesiology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. He spent the next year as an attending Anesthesiologist at the University of Nebraska as part of the regional anesthesia team.
Dr. Ward served in the U.S. Navy for a total of 9 years as an Anesthesiologist. He was stationed in Okinawa, Japan for 3 years, and he completed his service at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth in Portsmouth, Virginia. He also spent time in San Diego, California and Newport, Rhode Island. After leaving the Navy, he then went on to complete his fellowship in Interventional Pain Management at the University of California, Davis where he specialized in advanced interventional pain procedures and ultrasound techniques.
Dr. Ward is board certified in both Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine and became a medical partner at iSpine Clinics in 2021.
"I started to become interested in pain management while serving in the US Navy in Japan. The Naval Hospital was responsible for over 120,000 foreign deployed Americans and their dependents. Typically, our patients would need procedures completed by traveling state-side (CONUS) from Japan. We started to offer more chronic pain services in Okinawa to help our service men and women while saving time and tax-payer money. After my honorable discharge as a Lieutenant Commander from the USN, I decided to complete a fellowship in advanced pain procedures and chronic pain management.
I am honored to be a chronic pain physician where I can develop great relationships with my patients, help their functionality, and improve their quality of life. I believe the role of interventional pain management is significant. When patients can decrease or eliminate medications and their side effects, it can significantly increase their quality of life.
To the best of my ability, I help explain to my patients why they are in pain and the options they have available to them. When someone suffers from chronic pain, it can be a very frustrating and complicated journey. When going over the available treatment options, I go over the benefits, including success rates, while also going over all the potential side effects. Together, we can determine the best course to take." - Dr. Dustin Ward
Dr. Ward is married to Christina Ward, who is a practicing Internal Medicine physician for North Memorial. They have five children Naomi, Chloe, Blaise, Calder, and Wyatt. He enjoys coaching their Basketball teams, playing board games, and telling ‘Dad Jokes.' He also enjoys home improvement projects, water sports, downhill skiing, and movies.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Pain Care Team
Elliott Wise, PA-C, grew up in Minnesota and Indiana. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Bethel University in St. Paul, MN. He completed his PA training at the University of Iowa in 2012.
He is certified by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA). After graduation, Elliott worked in Emergency Medicine for about 6 years before transitioning to pain management. In his free time, Elliott enjoys spending time with family, reading, mountain biking and hiking.
Elliott understands that chronic pain management is exceedingly complex and it takes time to develop and implement individualized treatment plans. Elliott attentively listens to patients and then applies evidence based diagnostic and treatment options including advanced imaging, interventional procedures, medications, therapy and does not underestimate the need to treat the mind as well as the body.
What is Elliott's favorite thing about working at iSpine? "I work with a fantastic group of physicians, advanced practice providers and support staff. I love to see patients getting better after coming to iSpine."
Job Titles:
- Member of the Pain Care Team
- CNP
Evelyn Nietfeld, CNP grew up in Central MN. She graduated from Mankato State University with a degree in Nursing. After graduation, she worked in various health care settings including cardiovascular and occupational health nursing. She attended Clarkson College and obtained her Master's in nursing practice. Evelyn worked as a nurse practitioner in Occupational Medicine for several years and started in pain management in 2013. She finds pain management to be rewarding yet challenging.
In her spare time, Evelyn enjoys walking, reading, spending time with family, and fishing.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Rehab Team
- Clinical Physician
- FACOEM
Dr. Johnson grew up in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, and did his undergraduate work at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota. He attended medical school at the University of Minnesota. Following medical school he completed residency training in both internal medicine and occupational and preventive medicine. He completed board certification in both specialties. He also earned a master's degree in public health from the University of Minnesota.
Dr. Johnson has been a clinical physician throughout his career. He spent many years providing a full array of occupational medicine services, including serving as a program medical director throughout much of that time. Dr. Johnson joined Physicians' Diagnostics & Rehabilitation in 2017, which was acquired by iSpine Clinics in 2021.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Pain Care Team
Jacob "Jake" grew up in rural Wisconsin, graduating with a class of 50 people. He went to Western Technical College in La Crosse, WI for his associate degree in nursing, then attended Upper Iowa University for a Bachelor of Science in nursing. Jake has been a nurse for over 8 years in medical surgical nursing, as well as the Medical ICU at Regions Hospital. He completed a master's degree at Winona State University Rochester.
Jake believes that education is our biggest tool as health care providers, as well as holistic care. He enjoy providing education and using evidence-based practice to tailor treatment for each patient.
In his free time, he enjoys hiking, biking, and pretty much anything outdoors. Jake also enjoys reading.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Pain Care Team
Maple Grove North is our pain clinic, and Maple Grove South is our therapy clinic. On this page we welcome you to explore our pain clinic in Maple Grove, Minnesota, serving Northwestern Hennipen County with interventional pain physicians that specialize in back and extremity pain care and interventional procedures.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Pain Care Team
- Medical Partner
Dr. Faltas was born and raised in Alexandria, Egypt where he received his medical degree at the University of Alexandria and graduated with honors in 2007. He moved to the United States to fulfill his surgical internship at Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York. Dr. Faltas then completed his Anesthesiology residency at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, PA as well as his Interventional Pain Fellowship program at Rush University in Chicago, IL. Dr. Faltas published multiple case reports and studies highlighting innovative techniques at managing different types of chronic pain.
Dr. Faltas became a medical partner at iSpine Clinics in 2023. He focuses on treating pain at an individual level, understanding that each patient may have different needs and should be cared for with a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary and individualized approach. Dr. Faltas' goal is to help make day-to-day activities less difficult and restore quality of life for his patients.
Dr. Faltas is involved in many charity-based activities including youth service at his local church. He has been involved in medical mission work since he was a first-year medical student he founded and currently directs a charity-based pain clinic in his hometown.
"Chronic pain is a challenging disease; it changes who you are as a person; it can make you frustrated and depressed. It is my job to tackle this challenge and provide my patients with options and tools that they can feel comfortable with and that fit within their lifestyle. I love being a chronic pain doctor because pain is so challenging to treat; it makes it very rewarding to see patients get better and get their lives back. It is also a very exciting time in pain management with multiple new devices and procedures coming out. This means even more minimally invasive options for our patients such as spinal spacers and vertebro-basilar nerve ablations.
While I treat every type of chronic pain, areas that I specialize in include seeing patients after failed spine surgeries. An area that I specialize in is providing interventional treatments for migraine headaches after failure of the standard medication management approach. I also specialize in treating pelvic pain, which can be very challenging and debilitating for patients that suffer from it. There are multiple innovative interventions that I can provide for pelvic pain that can significantly impact a patient's life." - Dr. Rano Faltas
Dr. Faltas is Married to Dalia who works as a medical science liaison in Amgen oncology division, they both enjoy activities such as traveling, skiing, and snorkeling. They have one daughter Sophia who loves spicy food!
Job Titles:
- Member of the Pain Care Team
- Medical Partner
Dr. Boeding graduated Cum Laude with a B.S. in Psychology and a Minor in Music from Colorado State University. He attended medical school at University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine and graduated in 2008. Dr. Boeding is board certified in Interventional Pain Management, having completed his Fellowship in Pain Management at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. Ron is originally from Iowa, and attended the University of Iowa Medical School in Iowa City, where he met his wife Enid. After Residency at UVA they moved to Minnesota in 2012 for Enid to begin her Fellowship in Forensic Pathology at Hennepin County Medical Examiner's office and then at HCMC. They live in Plymouth and both enjoy the great outdoors, time with their two boys and seeing family in Iowa.
Dr. Boeding became a medical partner at iSpine Clinics in 2020. He has a special interest in the use of spinal cord stimulation for the treatment of intractable pains ranging from neuropathy due to diseases like diabetes, to low back and sciatica or neck pain after spine surgery, and for other painful conditions like chronic regional pain syndrome from injuries causing nerve damage.
His philosophy of care is that pain is only one sign of an underlying disease. Moreover, chronic pain is a sign that the current/past treatments are not helping. The use of narcotic and non-narcotic pain medications, as well as appropriate procedural interventions should be individually considered for each patient and can be used as a means to buy time for the source of the pain to be identified, and ultimately best treated. For those times that the source of the pain is well-known and has been treated as well as possible, then the ongoing use of medications and procedures becomes an option to allow continued/preserved function.
"I first became interested in Pain Medicine when I was in residency at UVA while I was on a rotation in the pain clinic. I had the mistaken impression that the pain clinic was simply a place for patients who had no other options; patients who were taking high doses of opiate medications daily, and/or who had undergone surgery without much benefit. Luckily, the doctors and nurses I met were on the cutting edge of non-narcotic medications, as well as the use of minimally invasive procedures to treat the most complicated and intractable cases. I was so impressed at how they were able to treat problems that so many other doctors had dismissed or given up on.
Since that time, I've gravitated towards these minimally invasive procedures and techniques to address sources of my patient's pain as much as possible. In my career thus far, I have seen such dramatic advances in Spinal Cord Stimulation, and in broadening use of Radiofrequency Ablation to relieve nerve and arthritis pain, respectively. Now we are able to even perform surgeries in the outpatient setting that used to require hospital stays and large incisions.
Perhaps most rewarding is how it seems that the tables have turned and we are now seeing patients before they have undergone surgery, before they have become trapped on opiates. I feel I am adding value to my patients and to my referring providers because when I refer someone to surgery, it's because I know that every other option has been considered and exhausted." - Ron B. Boeding MD
Job Titles:
- Member of the Pain Care Team
Sarah was born and raised in the Twin Cities. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and Psychology from Midland University in 2016. She then traveled to Shenandoah University where she obtained her Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies. While there she was able to grow and refine her medical knowledge, clinical skills, and healthcare experience throughout both rural and urban setting with a focus in underserved communities. She became board-certified and licensed to practice in the state of Minnesota in 2021.
Sarah strives to provide high-quality patient-centered care that focuses on respect, support, and patient empowerment. She enjoys creating individualized treatment plans that are as unique as patients are in order to help them through their chronic pain journey. She believes in an empathetic approach that focuses on improving quality of life for all her patients.
In her free time, Sarah enjoys spending time with friends and family, walking her dogs, and relaxing by the lake.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Pain Care Team
Tobie Meyer, PA-C, grew up in Fairfax, VA. After earning her bachelor's degree in Elementary Education from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, she spent 6 years working as an elementary school teacher. Tobie then went on to pursue a Masters of Science in Physician Assistant Studies at Wayne State University, earning her master's degree in 2000. Tobie is board-certified by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA). She has been working in pain management for 4 years and also has several years of experience in both Cardio-Thoracic and Orthopedic Surgery.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Pain Care Team
Valerie Lessard, PA-C grew up in Bloomington, MN. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Cell and Molecular Biology at the University of Minnesota, Duluth. She spent 3 years working at iSpine Pain Clinics prior to starting her PA training. She graduated with a Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies from St. Catherine University in St. Paul, and became NCCPA certified. After graduation, she worked in geriatric primary care for two years, where she provided on-site care to patients in transitional care settings, and assisted/independent living settings.
Valerie enjoys being able to spend time in collaboration with each of her patients. She strives to provide an individualistic approach to care in order to help patients achieve their most optimal outcomes and goals.
When not at work, Valerie enjoys running, going on walks with her dog, Archie, and spending time at the family cabin.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Rehab Team
- History