Dr. Stephen Z. Hull, Medical Director of Medical Pain Management at Mercy Pain Center, did his undergraduate studies and received his medical degree from the University of Washington. He completed residency and fellowship training at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Hull is a board certified pain medicine physician as well as a board-certified physiatrist, the specialty of physical medicine and rehabilitation.

Dr. Hull served as the Director of Rehabilitation Medicine at the New England Rehabilitation Hospital of Portland and as the Regional Director of Rehabilitation Medicine for Healthsouth Corporation. He has been the Medical Director of Physical Rehabilitation at Mercy Hospital for the past 21 years and has served as Interim Chief of the Department of Medicine and Interim Vice President for Medical Administration at Mercy Hospital. He served as the Medical Pain Management Specialist on the Maine Medical Association Chronic Pain Project, and helped secure expanded insurance coverage for physical, cognitive and behavioral therapies on the MaineCare Pain Management Policy working group. He has chaired the Portland community-wide Integrated Pain Management Conference for the past ten years.

Dr. Hull chose to specialize in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation with a concentration in chronic pain after seeing what a difference medical pain management and rehabilitation made in the lives of patients. In medicine, many chronic conditions get worse over time,” he explains. “Pain management and rehabilitation is different. Our patients almost always get better, achieve better function, better quality of life, better pain levels. It’s so rewarding to see patients re-engage with their lives.”

Dr. Hull’s practice integrates diagnosis, medical treatment of chronic and acute pain and rehabilitation for chronic pain conditions. “Because chronic pain is a disorder and not a disease, it takes many different specialties to overcome the challenges our patients face. Mercy Pain Center can diagnose a full spectrum of conditions and provide a full spectrum of multidisciplinary treatments. We eliminate or reduce pain with direct interventions and pain rehabilitation, addressing the physical, psychological and social components of pain.”

Dr. Hull moved to Maine in 1982 and built both his career and his family in his adopted state. He encourages Mainers suffering from chronic pain to ask their healthcare providers about Mercy Pain Center. “So many patients feel they get passed from specialist to specialist and nothing really changes,” he explains. “At Mercy Pain Center, we provide comprehensive and coordinated care for chronic pain, all in one caring place.”