In 1993, Dr. Nehls founded his practice in Washington State. Since then, his exceptional surgical ability and clinical judgment, and his caring approach to patients and families have established Dr. Nehls as one of the premier neurosurgeons in the region. Dr. Nehls enjoys an outstanding reputation among patients and fellow physicians alike. His professional interests range from brain tumors to complex vascular lesions to spinal disorders to brain and spinal trauma.

Dr. Nehls has extensive experience, and a special expertise, in the treatment of disorders of the spine; including disc herniations, neck and back pain, spinal stenosis, Chiari malformation, spinal instability and spinal tumors. He has had exceptional training in neurovascular disorders (aneurysms and AVMs). Dr. Nehls treats all forms of brain tumors, including primary brain tumors, meningiomas, metastatic cancer and tumors of the pituitary gland. He was the first neurosurgeon in the South Sound to implant Gliadel wafers into brain tumors (chemotherapy wafers that dissolve and deliver treatment to any remaining tumor). He is one of a few neurosurgeons in the state who is skilled in the comprehensive treatment of trigeminal neuralgia (a facial pain condition).

Dr. Nehls received his Doctor of Medicine degree from Northwestern University, Chicago in 1980. He completed a General Surgery internship at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC in 1981. Dr. Nehls trained in Neurosurgery with preeminent neurosurgeon, Robert Spetzler at the world-renowned Barrow Neurological Institute, in Phoenix, Arizona. In 1986, the New York Academy of Medicine awarded Dr. Nehls with the Charles Elsberg fellowship, an endowment which provides for a year of study at any location worldwide. He traveled to Glasgow, Scotland, to the Wellcome Surgical Institute to study cerebral blood flow and metabolism, and to explore treatments for stroke.

Before moving to Tacoma, Dr. Nehls practiced Neurosurgery for 6 years at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, in Washington DC, and William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso, Texas. At Walter Reed, Dr. Nehls was a senior faculty member, training Neurosurgery residents. He served as Acting Chief of Neurosurgery, and Acting Neurosurgery Residency Director. Dr. Nehls has been a Clinical Assistant Professor at Texas Tech School of Medicine and retains an appointment as Assistant Professor of Surgery at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. He has authored more than 50 publications, including 9 book chapters, and has lectured extensively throughout North America, and Europe. Dr. Nehls has been Board Certified as a Diplomate of the American Board of Neurological Surgery since 1990, and has been a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons since 1991. He is a member of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.

Dr. Nehls has been active in the medical community, serving on numerous committees at Good Samaritan Hospital, St Joseph Hospital and Tacoma General Hospital. These have included trauma, surgery, medical research, emergency services and executive committees. In 1998 and 1999, Dr. Nehls served as the Surgery Chairman at Tacoma General Hospital.

Dr. Nehls and his wife live in Tacoma. He is the father of four sons, and the proud owner of a miniature wiener dog. In his spare time he enjoys fly-fishing, skiing, music, and gourmet cooking.