A member of our Neurology team, Maria Gonzales, FNP-C, is a nurse practitioner who works closely with neurologists and other clinical staff to assess, diagnose and treat patients with neurological conditions such as stroke, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease and chronic headache. Born and reared in the Philippines, she earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing before emigrating to the United States in 2005. She practiced 17 years in healthcare settings in New York. In 2017 she joined Trinity Health, where she cared for patients in the Emergency/Trauma Center before completing her Master of Science degree in Advanced Nurse Practice from Walden University, Minneapolis. Maria is certified by the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. She enjoys traveling when she’s not taking care of patients.
Trinity Health East
Maria Li, MDCM
Maria Li MDCM, MSc, FAANS is a board-certified specialist in neurosurgery. With over 20 years of experience as an attending neurosurgeon, she brings an abundance of expertise to help patients afflicted with a wide breadth of conditions affecting the brain, spine, and peripheral nerves. Dr. Li earned her medical degree, completed her neurosurgery residency including an enfolded orthopedic spine fellowship, and earned a Master of Science in neuroscience in Montreal. Following her training at McGill University and the Montreal Neurological Institute, she did a post-doctoral laboratory fellowship in neurophysiology at the University of California at San Francisco and later completed a clinical fellowship in skull base and cerebrovascular surgery at the Seattle Neuroscience Institute.
She has practiced general neurosurgery in the USA for a decade, trying to improve the services available to local patients, including recently implementing a cranial neurosurgery program where none existed. Her academic career practicing, teaching, and doing clinical research spanned almost a decade in Montreal teaching hospitals affiliated with McGill University and the University of Montreal. Her neurosurgical practice consisted of 50% cranial and 50% spinal surgeries, with a focus on brain tumors.
Dr. Li is dedicated to maintaining the highest, most up to date standards, participating in the annual maintenance of certification program of the American Board of Neurological Surgery, which fosters excellence and lifelong learning. Dr. Li is a member of several medical and neurosurgical organizations. She continues to serve as a reviewer for the journal Neurosurgery.
Dwight Remington, DNP, FNP-C
Dwight Remington, DNP, FNP-C, is a board-certified family nurse practitioner and a member of our Pulmonary/Critical Care team. A Minot native, he received both his bachelor’s and doctorate degrees in Nursing from the University of Mary in Bismarck. Prior to becoming a nurse practitioner, Dwight worked as an RN for Trinity Health starting February, 2000, and practiced in various critical care departments, including the adult and newborn intensive care units, the cardiac catheterization lab, and as a flight nurse with NorthStar Criticair. Dwight provides treatment and support to patients in all stages of pulmonary disease and cares for critically ill patients in the ICU. He is a member of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners.
Charles Wood, MD
Charles O. Wood, MD, is a board certified neurosurgeon with extensive experience providing surgical care to people with brain and spinal disorders due to disease or trauma. A graduate of Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Dr. Wood completed his internship and Neurosurgery residency at Medical College of Virginia, Richmond, where he also did a year-long fellowship in Clinical Neurotrauma. He founded North Georgia Neurosurgical Associates in 1985 and spent the next two decades serving patients at Gwinnett Medical Center and other area hospitals. During his tenure there he co-developed the hospital’s Neuroscience Center and began a longstanding interest in adopting innovative approaches to neurological surgery, including minimally invasive and image-guided brain and spine surgery. In 2008 he was appointed Director of Neurosciences at Greenview Regional Hospital in Kentucky, where he also served as co-director of the Greenview Stroke Center. He joined Trinity Health in 2016. He’s a member of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.
Areas of Neurosurgical Practice:
- Brain and Spinal Trauma
- Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery
- Image-Guided Brain and Spinal Surgery
- Intracranial and Intraspinal Tumors
- Reconstruction of the Degenerative Spine
- Extra- and Intracranial Vascular Disease
- Stroke Management
Jeffrey Verhey, MD
Dr. Verhey is board certified in three specialties. He is board certified in Pulmonary Medicine, Critical Care Medicine and Internal Medicine. His training gives him expertise in treating patients with respiratory and lung conditions. He also is trained to care for those critically ill patients in the Intensive Care Unit. Dr. Verhey has been with Trinity Health since 1996, and serves Trinity in many capacities. He is the Medical Director for Home Health/Hospice, ICU, Respiratory Therapy and NorthStar CriticAir. He has served as Trinity’s Chief of Staff from 2002-2008. He is a Clinical Professor of Medicine for UND School of Medicine and has been honored as the Teacher of the Year at the Northwest Campus several times including three years in a row from 2012-2015. Dr. Verhey received his medical degree from the University of South Dakota-Vermillion, and did his Internal Medicine Residency and Pulmonary Critical Care Fellowship at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Dr. Verhey is a native of Madison, South Dakota. He and his wife, Janelle, have four children.
Mary Sadler, FNP-C
A nurse practitioner in Trinity’s Neurology Department, Mary Sadler, FNP-C, works closely with neurologists and other clinical staff to assess, diagnose and treat patients with neurological illnesses and injuries. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 1998 from Minot State University and practiced 10 years with Trinity Health in the Rehabilitation, Ortho/Neuro and Emergency/Trauma departments. In 2010 she received her Master of Science/Family Nurse Practitioner degree from the University of Mary in Bismarck. Since then she has served patients in family practice and emergency settings, most recently serving as an Occupational Health/Family Practice nurse practitioner with Sanford Health. She’s a member of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, the North Dakota Nurse Practitioners Association, the American Academy of Neurology and the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
Nasser Saffarian, MD
Dr. Saffarian is a graduate of the American University of the Carribean, British West Indies. He completed his Internal Medicine residency at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital where he also fulfilled his Nephrology fellowship. He completed an additional fellowship in Transplant Nephrology at St. Johns Hospital and Medical Center in Detroit.
Rosina Medel, MD
Rosina Medel, MD, is a neurologist board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. Dr. Medel provides specialized care for patients dealing with the full spectrum of neurological disorders affecting the brain, nervous system, peripheral nerves and muscles. She received her early medical training in the Philippines, earning a nursing degree and later a medical doctorate from the University of Perpetual Help System. She migrated to the United States, where she completed a preliminary residency in Internal Medicine at Nassau University Medical Center, East Meadow, NY. She fulfilled her Neurology residency and performed a fellowship in Clinical Neurophysiology at JFK Medical Center in Edison, NJ, where she served as chief resident her final year and earned numerous awards for academic and clinical excellence. Dr. Medel is a member of the American Academy of Neurology.
Durand Jones, FNP-C
A certified nurse practitioner, Durand Jones, FNP-C, cares for patients as part of Trinity Health’s Neurosurgery team. Originally from Memphis, TN, he served in the U.S. Air Force, moving to Minot AFB in 1988. He completed his military service and pursued a career in nursing. He practiced 16 years in Grand Forks and Bottineau and five years as traveling nurse. He also served two years as a clinical nurse instructor at Williston State College and Dakota College at Bottineau. He and his wife, Correen, have a son and daughter. They enjoy many types of outdoor activities.
Heidi Bender, FNP-C
Heidi A. Bender, DNP, FNP-C, is a board-certified family nurse practitioner and a key member of our Pulmonary/Critical Care team. A Minnesota native, she received her Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing from Concordia College, Moorhead, MN, and completed her Master’s in Advanced Practice Nursing from South Dakota State University, Brookings. In 2018, she received her doctorate in Nursing from the University of North Dakota. As an RN, Heidi practiced in Emergency Departments at MeritCare in Fargo, Avera St. Luke’s in Aberdeen, and at St. Luke’s Regional Medical Center in Sioux City, IA, where she also served as the department’s staff educator. She was an RN in Trinity’s ICU before completing her nurse practitioner training and joining Pulmonary/Critical Care specialist Jeffrey Verhey, MD, in his practice in 2007. Heidi is a member of Sigma Theta Tau Nursing Honor Society, Emergency Nurses Association, American College of Nurse Practitioners, and the American Association of Critical Care Nurses.