Kent Yundt, MD, FAANS

Dr. Kent Yundt began his career in neurosurgery at Washington University Medical Center, Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri. This is where he made one of the most important decisions of his life. A resident in general surgery, on track for cardiac surgery, Dr. Yundt took one rotation through neurosurgery and realized that this was the high-risk, highly challenging and life-altering surgery he was built for. The next day he asked the chief of neurosurgery to give him a spot. Knowing this was a moment that would alter his career forever, Dr. Yundt took the leap and successfully landed on the neurosurgery residency team. He never looked back.

Dr. Yundt continued his training at Washington University Medical Center from 1993-1998 where he had the privilege to work under the renowned neurosurgeon, Dr. Ralph Dacey, with whom he wrote several papers including a paper on hospital resource utilization in the treatment of cerebral aneurysms. Dr. Yundt served as chief resident in Neurological Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine and St. Louis Children’s Hospital from 1997 to 1998.

Today Dr. Yundt stands as one of the preeminent neurosurgeons in his field and is the original founder of Northwest Brain & Spine, a clinic he opened in Bend in 2004. His specialties include brain tumors, severe head injuries, and all spine disorders affecting the spine. A highly distinguished researcher and lecturer, Dr. Yundt has conducted extensive research on brain trauma and other neurological disorders and has been published in a wide array of esteemed medical journals. He has also received several awards which include the Brain Trauma Foundation Fellowship Award and the Leonard Berg Resident Research Award. He was listed in the 2001 edition of Strathmore’s Who’s Who. Dr. Yundt is also the Chief of Surgery and President Elect of the Medical Staff for Cascade Healthcare.

Beyond his expertise, it is his heartfelt dedication to his patients that makes Dr. Yundt an exceptional surgeon. His approach is simple: The patient comes first. With a profession as intimate and long term as brain surgery, Dr. Yundt believes that your doctor should be your friend, confidant, and a partner that willingly walks you through difficult decisions, procedures, and recovery.

Dr. Yundt extends this philosophy of care to his family, as well as to the local and global community he calls home. Father to five children, Tori, Drake, Reid, Colton, and Ben and husband to Annette, his life is full of high energy and a great deal of love. This has only intensified since the family welcomed 8 year old Ben, their adopted son, from Ghana Africa. The story of Ben began years ago when Dr. Yundt took his daughter Tori with him on a surgical volunteer trip to Tanzania. Provoked by the lack of resources she witnessed in the pediatric neurosurgery ward of the Muhimbili University Medical Center where Dr. Yundt was volunteering, Tori embarked on a career of study that eventually drew her to humanitarian work in Northern Ghana. It was there that she met and fell in love with a little orphan named Ben. One phone call to her parents, and the entire family fell in love with Ben as well. The Yundt’s have chronicled the story of Ben’s adoption in a book called, “It’s a Love Thing.”

Dr. Yundt spends his time off enjoying time with his family often on skis or in a kayak. He is also a skilled guitar player with a deep appreciation for the healing effect of music. In part because he understands that a community can use live music to nurture its greater sense of health, Dr. Yundt has been a presenting sponsor of the Peak Summer Nights Concert Series at the Athletic Club of Bend for the last 10 years. His latest passion is photography. He has his photographs displayed in various places around the Bend area and currently just had his work displayed in Portland, Oregon.

He is a former board chair of the Tour des Chutes, an annual bicycling event that has raised over $600,000 for the Livestrong Foundation and the St. Charles Cancer Survivorship Program.
Dr. Yundt is originally from a small farming community in Indiana. He received his B.S. from Purdue University, majoring in genetics and his M.D. from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee.