Forrest Health Neurodiagnostics Lab Brings Faster Answers Closer to Home

Families across South Mississippi have often faced a difficult decision — wait months for an appointment to find answers or travel hours to find them.

Today, many of those answers are closer to home.

Forrest Health’s Neurodiagnostics Lab in Hattiesburg is a vital resource for patients seeking to better understand what’s happening inside the brain and nervous system. The lab has reshaped access to care across the region.

At its core, the lab focuses on reading the body’s electrical signals, particularly those coming from the brain. The most common test is an EEG, which tracks brain activity and helps detect conditions like seizures.

The Neurodiagnostics Lab is located inside Forrest General and is led by manager Dustin Pitts and lead technician Carrie Jussely.

Patients presenting to the Emergency Department and inpatients at the hospital, as well as those referred by their physicians, have access to the fast and efficient care provided by all of the electrodiagnostic technicians. Designated days for pediatric patient appointments has been especially meaningful for these young patients and their families, allowing for timely outpatient testing for the community’s pediatric population.

Forrest General is currently the only facility in South Mississippi offering specialized EEG testing for pediatric patients. What once required a trip to Jackson or New Orleans can now often be scheduled within days.

“We can get a pediatric patient in within a week’s time,” Pitts said. “That’s a big benefit for families in this community.”

Some patients arrive after a traumatic injury. Others may be unresponsive. In many cases, the goal is simple but urgent: determine whether the brain is functioning normally.

Sometimes, the signs are easy to miss.

“When people think of seizures, they picture abnormal shaking or visible movements,” Pitts said. “But some of the most serious seizures don’t look like that at all.”

These “silent” seizures can occur without visible symptoms, making them difficult to detect without testing. During an EEG, the team can identify continuous abnormal brain activity even when a patient appears calm and still.

“It’s like the brain is running a marathon,” Pitts explained. “And when it finally stops, the person is completely exhausted.”

When something concerning is found, patients may be monitored for longer periods, sometimes with continuous video, to give physicians a clearer picture of what’s happening.

That speed and clarity are critical.

The lab works closely with neurologists who review the tests and interpret the results.  This helps to guide next steps of care, often within a short window of time.

“The last thing we want is for patients to wait and worry,” Pitts said. “Getting answers quickly can make all the difference.”

Sometimes, those answers begin with something small.

A child staring off in class may seem to be daydreaming — until a teacher notices something isn’t quite right.

“It might be nothing,” Jussely said. “But it could also be a type of seizure. We’ve seen cases where a teacher speaking up led to a diagnosis.”

In some cases, children who were thought to be inattentive or even defiant, were actually experiencing subtle seizure activity.

“We’ve seen several pediatric patients who were getting in trouble at school or thought to have ADHD,” Pitts said. “But they were having soft seizures.”

“I’m always impressed with teachers who recognize the difference,” Jussely added. “They’ll tell parents, ‘I know daydreaming, and this is not daydreaming.’”

From there, pediatricians can order testing, and if something is detected, patients are referred to a neurologist for specialized care. When caught early, those diagnoses can be life-changing, opening the door to treatment, management, and a better quality of life.

Beyond seizure detection, the lab supports patients with a wide range of conditions, including memory disorders, head injuries, and recovery after brain surgery. From newborns in the NICU to elderly patients, monitoring brain activity helps guide care and ensure treatments are working as intended.

New technology is also helping the team move faster than ever. An innovative, helmet-like device allows for rapid brain monitoring. In emergency cases, that speed can lead to earlier treatment and better outcomes. Forrest Health’s Respiratory Therapy team also plays a key role, assisting with overnight testing and monitoring in critical situations.

“Being able to get those results quickly, especially at night, has been phenomenal,” said Laura Miley, director of Neuro Hospitalist Services. “It helps us start the right treatment sooner.”

In just more than a year, the Neurodiagnostics Lab has performed more than 1,300 tests. But its impact goes far beyond the numbers.

For patients and families, it means fewer long drives, shorter waits, and faster answers.

And in many cases, it means catching something early enough to change the course of a life — without ever having to leave home.

For more information, visit www.forresthealth.org.