Spring 2013 - St. Mary Medical Center

N e w s & U p d at e s f o r S t. M a ry M e d i c a l S ta f f
Spring 2013
Growth of Key Services at St. Mary Medical Center
St. Mary Medical Center, the hospital of choice in Bucks County, continues to expand its facilities
and services in key clinical areas to better serve your patients and the community. Most recently, we
announced the grand opening of our expanded and redesigned Emergency Department and Trauma
Center, the addition of four new surgical suites to our Langhorne campus, and a groundbreaking for the
St. Mary Rehabilitation Hospital on the site of the former Neshaminy Middle School.
Emergency and
Trauma Care
Phase II of St. Mary Medical Center’s
Emergency Department and Trauma Center
expansion is now finished.
Scheduled for a total project completion
in August 2013, the Medical Center will
invest nearly $22 million in this state-ofthe-art facility. The result is an Emergency
Department with the capacity to treat more
than 100,000 patients annually and save
countless lives thanks to the well-qualified
staff, advanced life-saving technologies, and
the split-flow model of care for managing
high patient volume.
This new layout and care model provides
patients quicker access to highly trained
Surgical
Services
A recently completed surgical services
expansion has added four new operating
rooms (ORs) to support St. Mary’s
growing patient volume in orthopedics,
neurosurgery, and robotic-assisted surgery,
as well as all general surgeries.
The new, larger ORs have been
outfitted with the TEGRIS Operating Room
Integration system. St. Mary is among the
first in the nation to utilize this system,
which provides a single point of control
for accessing patient information and
integrating OR equipment, room functions,
and high-definition images and videos
during various procedures. f
Continued on page 2
According to benchmark data, St. Mary Emergency
Department patient satisfaction is currently ranked in
the top 5 percent nationally.
Acute
Rehabilitation
In partnership with Centerre Healthcare
Corporation, St. Mary Medical Center
has announced plans for a new acute
rehabilitation hospital — the first specialty
hospital of its kind in Bucks County.
Scheduled for completion in spring
2014, the St. Mary Rehabilitation Hospital
will provide acute inpatient rehabilitation
services for patients who require a high
level of specialized care. The hospital
will feature dedicated inpatient units for
patients recovering from stroke, as well as
brain, spinal cord, and traumatic injuries.
St. Mary finalized the purchase of the
former Neshaminy Middle School site from
Continued on page 2
St. Mary Medical Center now has 19 operating rooms
and performs more than 27,000 surgeries and short
procedures annually.
Architect’s rendering of the St. Mary Rehabilitation
Hospital exterior.
quality and safety
Ensuring Appropriate Use
of Antibiotics
St. Mary Medical Staff members are encouraged
to get involved in the Antimicrobial Stewardship
Program (ASP) being formalized in response to the
growing public health issue of antibiotic resistance.
According to Ronald Goren, MD, an infectious
diseases specialist who was named Medical Director,
Infection Prevention, at St. Mary in January 2013,
the program’s goal is to increase patient safety
and quality of care by promoting appropriate
prescribing, preventing unnecessary usage, and
ensuring proper length of treatment.
“Antibiotics are not the ‘magic bullets’ we
previously assumed. It is estimated that over
50 percent of antimicrobial use in hospitals is
inappropriate,” he says.“It also is clear that long-term,
indiscriminate use of antibiotics for viral infections
and in patients without infection has lead to serious
problems with antibiotic resistance,” he notes.
Dr. Goren has partnered with the Infectious
Diseases Clinical Pharmacy Specialist Noha
Eltoukhy, PharmD, to augment and refine
stewardship initiatives put into place by the
Pharmacy Department over the past several
years. To help advance the program, an ASP
subcommittee of St. Mary’s Pharmacy and
Therapeutics committee has been formed. The
committee consists of a multidisciplinary team,
including Infection Prevention, Microbiology,
Information Technology, Pharmacy, Nursing, and
physician representation.
As an initial step, Drs. Goren and Eltoukhy
have been monitoring antibiotic usage with a
pharmacy clinical decision support tool that aids
in concentrating efforts on patients that meet
pre-specified criteria. Data will be collected and
analyzed to further develop protocols for infectious
disease processes in the Emergency Department
and other clinical areas. All documents pertaining
to the ASP, such as institution-specific protocols,
guidelines, pathways and policies, will be available
on SharePoint accessible via the St. Mary Intranet.
According to Dr. Goren,“Staff participation
is crucial in decreasing the risk of healthcareassociated infections and improving the quality of
care. I hope to get everyone engaged in our efforts
to fight infections at St. Mary.”
To get involved in this initiative, contact Dr. Goren
at rgoren@stmaryhealthcare.org or Dr. Eltoukhy at
215.710.7448. f
quality and safety
Three New Core Measures for 2013
In 2013, St. Mary Medical Center began to report composite
scores for three new CMS quality core measures: stroke, venous
thromboembolism (VTE), and perinatal elective delivery (decrease in
rate of elective deliveries).
Our first-quarter 2013 composite score for stroke was 99.4 percent
and 0 percent for elective deliveries. More impressive is that St. Mary
attained 100 percent compliance in six distinct core measure sets for
the month of April; they are: stroke, pneumonia, AMI, CHF, perinatal,
and SCIP. SCIP attained a 100 percent in every indicator for the very
first time since the start of the program. For VTE, our first-quarter 2013
composite score increased to 86 percent, up from the year-end 2012
score of 83 percent.
“VTE is a more challenging measure for hospitals to comply with because it applies to 100 percent of all
adult inpatients across the board; whereas, the other core measures apply to specific subsets of patients,”
says Joseph Conroy, MD, FACS, Chief Medical Officer and Vice President, Medical Affairs.
“To improve in this area,” Dr. Conroy notes,“there needs to be a continued focus on VTE prophylaxis
— mechanical or pharmacological — administered within 24 hours of arrival, including surgeries. If a
physician chooses not to administer prophylaxis, contraindications need to be documented in CareLink
[CPOE]. Thorough documentation makes a difference.”
To view St. Mary’s overall hospital quality measures, visit www.StMaryHealthcare.org/quality. f
Emergency and Traum
specialists in areas including trauma, heart and
vascular, neurosciences, and orthopedics.This
venture marks the second time in the past seven
years that St. Mary has expanded its Emergency
Department and Trauma Center.
Phase II construction includes a fully covered
and lit Emergency Department entrance. Three
lanes have been added in front of the entrance to
facilitate traffic flow for patients and to provide
convenient access to 24/7 valet parking. A
designated entrance and parking area for patients
arriving by ambulance also has been installed.
Other enhancements include a lobby with a
fireplace that provides comfort for patients and
families, new reception with three distinct areas to
triage patients, and private areas where patients
may comfortably wait for test results and/or
additional treatment. In addition, the Expedited
Treatment Area, designed for patients who have
conditions that need further evaluation, has
expanded from five to eight beds.
“This recent expansion has had a very
positive effect on both patients and physicians,”
notes Gary Zimmer, MD, Medical Director of
Emergency Services.“Access to patient care
has been improved, allowing us to effectively
and efficiently treat the growing number of
St. Mary Rehabilitation
the Neshaminy School District to develop the
St. Mary Rehabilitation Hospital and Outpatient
Campus. The St. Mary Rehabilitation Hospital
is part of the first phase in the development of
this new campus, which will be located directly
across the street from the Medical Center’s main
campus. With the opening of the new 50-bed
rehabilitation hospital, St. Mary will relocate its
existing 31-bed rehabilitation unit currently on
the main campus, and convert the vacated space
to a private-bed inpatient unit.
The 55,000-square foot St. Mary Rehabilitation
Hospital will have attractive, patient-friendly
private rooms. Physical, occupational and speech
therapy, and neuropsychology are among
services to be provided to help patients regain
their highest levels of functional independence.
The hospital will include spacious therapy
gyms equipped with the latest in rehabilitative
equipment, indoor and outdoor dining areas,
simulated home-training environments, and an
innovative outdoor therapy courtyard complete
with a putting green, basketball court, and
walking path.
ma Care from page 1
emergency patients. The split-flow model of
emergency care has had a tremendous impact on
the quality of care patients receive.”
The Bristol-Myers Squibb Pediatric Emergency
Care Center benefited through the Phase I
redesign. In addition to being one of the first
pediatric emergency care centers in the area, it is
the only one in the region to implement the use of
nitrous oxide (N2O) in treating children.
The practice of providing light sedation of
N2O is a safe and effective way to reduce the pain
and anxiety children and parents face in stressful
situations such as administering stitches, mending
lacerations, or helping with broken bones. N2O has
few side effects and is very fast acting.
The third and final phase of construction,
scheduled for completion this summer, will
focus on renovating the pre-existing Emergency
Department and Trauma Center and adding the
finishing touches to the department.
In this phase, the Bristol-Myers Squibb Pediatric
Emergency Care Center will grow from eight to 11
beds. Features such as doors in treatment rooms
and the addition of a pediatric resuscitation room
that also can be used for pediatric trauma are
among the new features to be added. f
n Hospital from page 1
The need for physical rehabilitation services
is anticipated to grow as the population ages
in our region and continues to be affected by
the high incidence of stroke, cardiovascular and
orthopedic conditions.
“This hospital will prove a valuable resource
for our community, fulfilling a unique need for
specialized rehab care,” says Guillermo Bernal,
MD, Co-Medical Director of the Inpatient
Rehabilitation Unit at St. Mary.“People will
welcome not having to travel to Center City for
this level of advanced clinical care.”
“The interdisciplinary rehab team, including
doctors, therapists, nurses and aides, work
together to ensure the highest quality outcomes
for our patients,” adds William Bonner, MD, CoMedical Director of the Inpatient Rehabilitation
Unit.“The clinical team works closely with each
patient and their caregivers to create a treatment
program to meet individualized goals and return
the patient as close to their previous level of
function as possible.” f
Physician Recognition
Philadelphia magazine has released its list of the 688 best physicians in the region, as
chosen by their peers. Congratulations to the following seven members of the St. Mary
Medical Staff for being named to the publication’s list of top doctors:
David Andrews, MD, Neurosurgery
Ronald Goren, MD, Infectious Diseases
Richard Cautilli Jr., MD, Orthopedic Surgery Kevin Judy, MD, Neurosurgery
James Evans, MD, Neurosurgery
Robert Rosenwasser, MD, Neurosurgery
Ronald Fields, MD, Interventional Cardiology
Charles Whitney, MD, a board-certified family practice physician, has been named one of
America’s “Top Docs” in concierge medicine by the editors of Concierge Medicine Today (CMT).
This distinction recognizes a select few direct primary care medical practices across the United
States that have made an impact in areas such as patient care, educational efforts, medical
influence, charitable efforts, and other areas. Dr. Whitney is one of just 15 physicians nationwide
to be named to CMT’s “Top Docs” list for 2013. f
In Touch seeks to recognize St. Mary physicians for notable professional and academic achievements: awards,
national speaking engagements, publication in distinguished medical journals, appointment to boards, credentialing,
and community service. Please e-mail your recent achievements to lmazzenga@stmaryhealthcare.org.
st. mary heart and vascular center
TAVR Procedure for
Treatment of Aortic Stenosis
An 87-year-old female with a history of open-heart surgery
is among the first patients to benefit from a new minimally
invasive procedure performed at St. Mary Medical Center for the
treatment of aortic stenosis. St. Mary is one of the first hospitals in
the tri-state area to offer this treatment advance, which is known
as transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR).
“Previously, there were few options for patients with
severe aortic stenosis who could not tolerate surgery,” says
interventional cardiologist George Heyrich, MD, Medical
Team Lead for TAVR at St. Mary.“The implantation of a
medical device through a catheter delivery system is a
significant breakthrough that offers great potential in
advancing treatments and improving quality of life for
critically ill patients.”
A N ew wA Introducing heart
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First in Buc
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to replace aor
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TAVR—Transc
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Valve Replace
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New valve is
threaded
through a sm
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Instantly wor
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Minimally inva
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less trauma
, less risk
Recovery can
take only
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The TAVR procedure is performed in St. Mary’s
Call 215.710.5888
for a physician refe
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www.StMaryHealt
hcare.org/TAVR
sophisticated hybrid operating room by a multidisciplinary
team of heart specialists, including cardiothoracic surgeons and interventional cardiologists. The
procedure typically takes about 60 to 90 minutes, compared to four to six hours for open-heart surgery.
In addition, the recovery time is substantially shorter — one to two weeks — compared to six to eight
weeks for open valve-replacement surgery.
Cardiologist Rakesh Shah, MD, recently discussed TAVR with a reporter from the Bucks County Courier
Times:“When you think about cardiovascular procedures, this really is the pinnacle,” he said.“It’s really
made us come together to work as a team to provide the best outcome for patients. It gives us the ability
to treat a group of patients that have absolutely no other options. And that’s huge.”
For information about this procedure, contact TAVR Coordinator Elaine Flood, CRNP, at 267.315.1194
or eflood@stmaryhealthcare.org, or visit www.StMaryHealthcare.org/TAVR. f
l
National Recognition for Respiratory Care — The American Association of Respiratory Care
(AARC) has presented St. Mary Medical Center with a certificate of recognition for providing
quality patient care. About 15 percent of U.S. hospitals have earned quality respiratory care
recognition from the AARC -- a first for St. Mary.
St. Mary’s Respiratory Therapy Department is staffed 24/7 with certified and registered respiratory
therapists who care for patients with lung diseases in all areas of the hospital, with particular
focus on emergent and critical care. The department also is involved in performing and assisting
physicians with pulmonary diagnostic testing for both acute care and outpatients.
Mark Your
Calendar
26. JUNE, 5 pm
Quarterly Medical Staff Meeting
Medical Staff Conference Room
Outpatient Building, First Floor
l
Diabetes Self-Care Classes — St. Mary has added educational workshops focused exclusively on
diabetes self-care to our “Road to Healthier Living” chronic disease self-management program.
The six-week series of interactive workshops are provided free of charge to people who are newly
diagnosed with diabetes or have been living with the disease for many years.
7. SEPTEMBER, 9 am – 2:30 pm
Caring for the Whole Woman
Workshops are held at senior centers, senior-living communities, 55+ active-adult communities,
and onsite at St Mary Medical Center. Visit www.StMaryHealthcare.org/roadtohealth for a current
schedule or call 215.710.5888 to register for an upcoming session.
Sheraton Bucks County Hotel
Langhorne
l
Update Your Practice Info — Please fax any changes to your practice name, address, and phone
or fax numbers to 215.710.5975. f
Contact: 215.710.2008
Contact: 215.710.6573
Gautam Agrawal, MD, Radiology
Stefan Hura, MD, Radiology
Subhankar Bandyopadhyay, MD,
Emergency Medicine/Pediatrics
Gregory Johnson, MD, Radiology
Christopher Richards, MD, Medicine/
Telepsychiatry
Brian Kim, MD, Radiology
Lindsay Rogers, MD, Pediatric Cardiology
Ashish Behari, MD, Surgery/Urology
Philip Lebovitz, MD, Cardiology
David Rosvold, MD, Cardiology
Stephanie Brian, MD, Anesthesiology
Andrew Lee, MD, Pulmonary and Critical Care
Steven Samuel, MD, Cardiology
Rupinder Chawla, MD, Internal Medicine
Melissa Leimkuehler, MD, Radiology
Christopher Smith, MD, Radiology
Lawrence Cheung, MD, Radiology
Margaret Lin, MD, Radiology
Lawrence Chow, MD, Radiology
Philip Lobert, MD, Radiology
Marissa Stridiron, MD, Internal Medicine/
Psychiatry
Charles Ellis, MD, Anesthesiology
Gul Madison, MD, Internal Medicine
Nepenthe Fong, MD, Radiology
Rowena McBeath, MD, Surgery/Orthopedics
Marchelle Giannini, MD, Radiology
William Meis, DO, Surgery/Hyperbaric/Wound
Terry Gubitosi, MD, Emergency Medicine/
Pediatrics
Tu Thao Pham, MD, Radiology
Raymond Hsu, MD, Radiology
Anthony Powell, MD, Radiology
Rajalla Prewitt, MD, Medicine/Telepsychiatry
Carmen Peña, CPCS, CPMSM
Director, Medical Affairs
215.710.2009
cpena@stmaryhealthcare.org
Jie Sun, MD, PhD, Pediatric Cardiology
Zachary Thompson, MD, Radiology
Amir Toib, MD, MSc, Pediatric Cardiology
Grace Tye, MD, Radiology
Jeffrey Veluz, MD, CT Surgery
Urszula Wierciszewska, MD, Pediatrics
Laura Mazzenga
Editor, In Touch
215.710.6573
lmazzenga@stmaryhealthcare.org