Raymond C. Truex Jr., MD, FAANS, FACS, a highly accomplished neurosurgeon in Berks County, has retired from Reading Health as of June 30, 2017, after 50 years in the medical field.
Dr. Truex joined the Reading Health medical staff in 1990. Working as a neurosurgeon and cancer specialist with Reading Health Physician Network – Spine & Brain Neurosurgery, he has treated disorders of the brain, spinal cord and nervous system and has performed highly specialized surgery on the leading edge of medicine.
He accomplished many “firsts” at Reading Health and in the Berks County area. For example, Dr. Truex was the first neurosurgeon locally to use odontoid screw placement to stabilize a fractured second cervical vertebra of the spine – the vertebra that plays a key role in a person’s ability to turn their head.
He also was the first neurosurgeon in Reading to perform a craniotomy using plates and screws to secure the skull plate in place after it has been opened for brain surgery. He has been instrumental in treatment planning for patients who have stereotactic radiosurgery, a radiation treatment that precisely targets brain tumors and abnormalities. And, he was Reading Health’s first neurosurgeon to learn and use a surgical brain navigation system that enables the surgeon to see the patient’s brain anatomy and track the location of the surgical instruments in relation to the anatomy.
In addition to his busy neurosurgery schedule, Dr. Truex has served in numerous leadership roles at Reading Health and in medical organizations. At the Berks County Medical Society, he has been an Executive Committee member since 1996 and a Delegate for the House of Representatives PA Medical Society since 1998. Over the years, he also has served as Berks County Medical Society President; Chairman of the Executive Council; and Chairman of the Physician’s Advocacy Committee, among other positions. He has been active with the Pennsylvania Neurosurgical Society, President 2001, and still serves as the organization’s historian and on its Board of Counselors.
From 1975 to 1988, Dr. Truex worked as a neurosurgeon in numerous Philadelphia-area hospitals simultaneously, including in the Department of Neurology, Temple University Health Sciences Center; as Section Chief, Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children; and at Shriner’s Hospital for Crippled Children, Albert Einstein Medical Center, Northern Division; Rolling Hill Hospital; and Doylestown Hospital. He also was a faculty member at Temple University School of Medicine, serving as Associate Professor of Neurosurgery from 1986 to 1988 and as Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery from 1975 to 1986.
Throughout his esteemed career, Dr. Truex has won numerous awards for his professional accomplishments, community service and teaching. Most recently, he received the Berks County Medical Society Compass Award 2017 and the Berks County Medical Society Award for 50 Years of Service, and the Reading Hospital Excellence in Trauma Award 2017.
After graduating from Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia, Dr. Truex received his post-graduate training in general surgery at Pennsylvania Hospital and his neurosurgical surgery training at Temple University Hospital. He served in the United States Navy Medical Corps, including in the Fleet Marine Force Pacific, 3rd Marine Division, in Vietnam, and with the Department of Surgery, Camp Pendleton Navy Hospital, in Oceanside, Calif.
Dr. Truex has improved the lives of countless patients in Berks County and across Pennsylvania, and he has enhanced medical training and medical services in the Commonwealth. Please join Reading Health in wishing him a healthy and happy retirement.
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