Category: MAY – JUNE MD News 2020

Historic Heart Care at St. Joseph’s Health Cardiovascular Institute

Posted on by admin

By Allison Gorman

Monday, April 27, 2020

With a growing team of specialists, the most advanced treatments and state-of-the-art facilities, St. Joseph’s Health Cardiovascular Institute continues to make history as a top regional and national cardiac program.

From performing the first successful open-heart surgery in Syracuse to helping pioneer new protocols for transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), St. Joseph’s Health has been at the forefront of cardiac care, both regionally and nationally, for decades. In the past 10 years, St. Joseph’s has reinforced that position, expanding its team of highly trained cardiac specialists and adding to its menu of advanced interventional procedures, minimally invasive surgeries and mechanical supports to treat even the most complex cases.

The heart of St. Joseph’s cardiac program is its flagship hospital in Syracuse, which capped off $400 million in renovations with the addition of a state-of-the-art surgical tower in 2014 and a 45,000-square-foot Cardiovascular Institute in 2018. The program serves a 15-county area that extends from Canada to Pennsylvania and the Finger Lakes to Utica.

St. Joseph’s has also invested in meeting people where they live to fight heart disease — the leading cause of death in New York and the United States. With the addition of CareFlight, a medical helipad on its Syracuse campus, and more satellite locations opening throughout Central New York, St. Joseph’s ensures that distance is no obstacle for treatment at one of the nation’s top cardiac programs.

A team, including vascular surgeon Syed Zaman, MD, performs surgery in one of St. Joseph’s state-of-the-art surgical suites. The St. Joseph vascular team has more experience performing a full range of services than any other hospital in the region. The hospital’s exceptional outcomes earned them a High Performing rating in abdominal aortic aneurysm repair by U.S. News and World Report.
 

Cycle of Success

The axiom “success breeds success” is especially true when failure can have fatal consequences. In other words, it’s no coincidence that St. Joseph’s performs about 1,000 cardiac surgeries a year (including the most open-heart procedures in the region, with the lowest risk-adjusted mortality rates) — and that it was named one of the top six hospitals in the nation for heart surgery by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons.

“There are many heart surgery programs in Central New York, but there’s only one that does more than a thousand cases a year,” says Joseph Spinale, DO, MBA, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for St. Joseph’s Health. “That’s how we get the outcomes we do.”

It’s a self-perpetuating cycle: More heart valve surgeries than any other provider in the region and more coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) procedures means more patients referred to St. Joseph’s or sent there from places like Watertown, Ogdensburg and Binghamton.

Expert providers are key players at St. Joseph’s, too, according Ahmad Nazem, MD, FACS, Chief of Cardiac Surgery at St. Joseph’s.

“The only way you have more cases is to obtain good outcomes — those go hand in hand,” Dr. Nazem says. “With that kind of volume, you end up attracting better talent at all levels.”

Dr. Russell Silverman, MD, FACC, Director of Medical Cardiology for St. Joseph’s, sees the same dynamic at work on the interventional side. St. Joseph’s is one of the top five producers in the state, with four times more volume than any other hospital is Syracuse.

“Our cath lab is available 24/7 for patients with acute problems that we can address,” Dr. Silverman says. “It’s even available for elective procedures seven days a week, which means we perform inpatient elective procedures on the weekends.”

The medical helicopter also keeps the cath lab busy.

“We transport critically ill patients and perform necessary procedures,” Dr. Silverman says. “We have some of the best interventional physicians in the state.”

James Connelly, MD
“It’s a given: When you do more cases, you end up with more experience, and more experience translates into better outcomes.”
— Ahmad Nazem, MD, FACS, Chief of Cardiac Surgery at St. Joseph’s Health
 

Becoming an Institute
Dr. Spinale, an invasive cardiologist, suspects his medical specialty is part of what led St. Joseph’s to offer him the newly created position of CMO in 2017. He admits that St. Joseph’s renowned cardiovascular program, including its impressive new surgical tower, was part of what inspired him to accept the offer.

His first goal as CMO was to unite the competing cardiovascular groups upon which the program was built, to create a single enterprise: the Cardiovascular Institute.

“One of the biggest sources of waste in health care is clinical variation,” Dr. Spinale says. “By pulling everyone together and having one way of managing treatments that are based on best practices and clinical research, we can eliminate that waste and provide quality care with better outcomes at a lower cost.”

Since then, the Institute has steadily grown. Its team of specialists now includes five cardiac surgeons, 11 cardiac anesthesiologists, five vascular surgeons, six interventional cardiologists, two cardiac electrophysiologists, 16 medical cardiologists, and 22 physician assistants and nurse practitioners.

5 Reasons to Trust St. Joseph’s Health for Cardiac Care

  1. Excellus BlueCross BlueShield Blue Distinction Center+ for cardiac care
  2. Consumer Reports top 15 heart surgery centers in the U.S.
  3. Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care accreditation for chest pain with percutaneous coronary intervention and resuscitation
  4. Accreditation for Cardiovascular Excellence for cardiac catheterization
  5. American Association of Critical-Care Nurses “Silver level” Beacon Award for cardiovascular-surgical ICU

The ultramodern cardiac facilities at St. Joseph’s Health in Syracuse were built to accommodate a burgeoning caseload. The $63 million Christina M. Nappi Surgical Tower includes an expansive waiting area and 110 spacious, private rooms that are primarily used by cardiac inpatients.

“When the patient feels better in a space, that affects their improvement, and the family feels more at ease with the patient staying there,” Dr. Spinale says.

The tower’s design also enhances the progress of patient care. When communication is easier and transfer times are shorter, outcomes improve.

Similarly, the $32 million Merola Center for Cardiac Care, which houses catheterization, electrophysiology, interventional radiology facilities, 40 patient bays and a hybrid OR, was designed both for patient comfort and for the delivery of safer, more coordinated care.

Care Flight Helicopter

“Our goal is to do what’s right for the patient. Not necessarily what any one individual wants to do, but what the group thinks is best, based upon best practices and guidelines in the cardiology and cardiovascular surgery literature.”
— Russell Silverman, MD, FACC, Director of Medical Cardiology at St. Joseph’s Health
 

Advanced Surgical Treatments

St. Joseph’s cardiac surgical program provides a full menu of advanced treatments, including robotic and minimally invasive procedures, for valvular disease, stenosis and insufficiency, as well as aortic pathologies.

“A large part of our procedures is minimally invasive,” Dr. Nazem says. “For example, we go through the right side of the chest with a small incision and do mitral valve surgery, aortic valve surgery and tricuspid valve surgery. Almost all the incisions are, at most, 7 to 8 centimeters in length.”

Some of the surgical techniques offered at St. Joseph’s, like the valve-saving “David Procedure,” aren’t available elsewhere in Central New York. Other surgical options offered there are less about a specific technique than the surgeons’ comfort and experience treating complex cases in a minimally invasive way.

“We do triple valve replacements through a right-side, thoracotomy, minimally invasive incision,” Dr. Nazem says. “That wouldn’t happen many other places.”

For CABG, St. Joseph’s surgeons offer both robotic surgery and open bypass, including an off-pump procedure for patients at high risk for embolization or stroke.

St. Joseph’s Health: Heart History in the Making

  • The first successful open heart surgery in Syracuse was performed at St. Joseph’s Hospital in 1958, and St. Joseph’s was the third hospital in the U.S. to perform angioplasty.
  • Famous physicians who have worked or studied at St. Joseph’s include Charles Dotter, MD, a pioneering interventional radiologist who invented angioplasty; Andreas Gruentzig, MD, who expanded Dr. Dotter’s angioplasty; Goffredo Gensini, MD, who first identified coronary vasospasms (and established St. Joseph’s cath lab); and Antonio Colombo, MD, who pioneered the concept of adequate stent deployment and the use of intravascular ultrasound for coronary stenting.

“Because St. Joseph’s has the largest cardiac and critical care anesthesiology team in Central New York, it can safely offer procedures for patients who wouldn’t otherwise be cleared for them,” says Courtney Maxey-Jones, MD, a cardiac anesthesiologist and intensivist at St. Joseph’s and its Medical Director for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and mechanical support.

The Institute added ECMO in 2018, to better support “the sickest of the sick,” according to Dr. Maxey-Jones. She’s part of a smaller team of critical care cardiac anesthesiologists that provides 24/7 evaluation of eligibility for ECMO for cardiac or respiratory etiology. The team also works closely with the cardiologists and cardiac surgeons to manage day-to-day operation and then removal of mechanical support devices.

“The program has really taken off,” Dr. Maxey-Jones says. “It has allowed us to have some patients who either come in having an acute MI or otherwise would die of cardiogenic shock and to recover some of them and return them to independent daily living.”

Dr. Nazem says St. Joseph’s cardiac surgeons often use Impella heart pumps independently or in combination with ECMO to support patients in heart failure.

Nelly Kazzaz, MD
“Once you get out of New York City, St. Joseph’s is the premier cardiac program in the state.”
— Joseph Spinale, DO, MBA, Chief Medical Officer at St. Joseph’s Health

Advanced Structural Techniques

As the relatively young subspecialty of structural cardiology continues to evolve, St. Joseph’s has stayed ahead of the field by sending its providers to receive training from high-volume providers of advanced procedures, such as TAVR and MitraClip, and by hiring new physicians from strong interventional and structural heart programs.

St. Joseph’s is known for helping advance the use of TAVR, a minimally invasive procedure for severe aortic stenosis. The American Heart Association compares the down time and recovery of a TAVR procedure to that of a balloon treatment or angiogram.

St. Joseph’s participated in clinical trials for the use of TAVR in low-risk patients, and it’s still the major provider of TAVR in Central New York.

“We do a lot of minimally invasive surgeries that other hospitals in the area wouldn’t be able to do,” Dr. Nazem says. “We are ahead with TAVR in this area, and we’re definitely the only robotic center that has done it for years and has great experience with it. The fact that the Merola Center for Cardiac Care has a hybrid OR for TAVR procedures helps us enormously.”

A situation like TAVR failing is extremely fatal. The shorter time between patients getting CPR and getting their chest opened, the better the outcomes and the more lives get saved.

In addition to structural procedures, St. Joseph’s interventionalists offer the WATCHMAN procedure for atrial fibrillation; emergency interventions, such as EkoSonic Endovascular System (EKOS) for acute pulmonary embolism; cryoablations and radio frequency ablations; and implantation of pacemakers and defibrillators.

St. Joseph’s Health anesthesiologists work in the Electrophysiology Lab, studying the electrical activity of a patient’s heart to find where an arrhythmia is coming from. St. Joseph’s performs more than 1,700 electrophysiology procedures, 250 radio frequency ablations and 350 implantable cardioverter defibrillators annually.
“The most critically ill patients are those undergoing cardiac surgery, so having additional training in either critical care or cardiac anesthesia is very important to safety as well as having good outcomes in the cardiac surgery world.”
— Courtney Maxey-Jones, MD, Cardiac Anesthesiologist and Intensivist, Medical Director for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and Mechanical Support at St. Joseph’s Health

Clinical Care

Structural and surgical cardiology might make headlines, but therapeutic management of heart disease is critical to a robust cardiology program. St. Joseph’s cardiologists have long been known for their clinical excellence, which they extend to patients across Central New York through the hospital’s many satellite locations.

In April, St. Joseph’s opened its 11th location: a heart failure clinic operated in conjunction with Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester. Both hospitals work together to provide remote monitoring of patients with implanted devices.

A 12th location, which will be the Cardiovascular Institute, is set to open in Fayetteville in June.

The Institute is built on a service line model that begins with the medical cardiologist. If more specialized treatment is required, the best approach is determined by a full team of cardiac physicians, in consultation with the patient and often the primary care physician.

“It takes a committee, not a doctor, to make these decisions,” Dr. Silverman says.

He cites the recent example of a 78-year-old patient who came to him with shortness of breath. The patient, a smoker, had significant pulmonary and coronary disease. He’d had a heart attack and a number of coronary interventions, including bypass, and Dr. Silverman had followed the patient’s aortal stenosis for years. The question was whether this new symptom was related to a diseased valve or diseased lungs.

After a battery of tests and evaluations by pulmonary, surgical and interventional specialists, the team determined that TAVR was the correct approach. Two weeks after the valve replacement, Dr. Silverman watched his longtime patient walk up and down the hall, breathing easier.

“We made the best decision in that case,” Dr. Silverman says. “The patient’s longevity is more than a year, despite his lungs, and the life that he will have now will be better than the life he had prior to the intervention.”

With all the awards St. Joseph’s cardiac program has earned, its physicians ultimately measure success by moments like this.

“I’ve seen patients in dire situations: If they move, they can have a heart attack, fibrillate and die,” Dr. Nazem says. “But I take them to the OR and complete the necessary procedure, and the next day they’re sitting up in bed, and the next day they’re walking. There’s nothing more rewarding than those results for my patients.”

To learn more about St. Joseph’s Health heart care, visit everybeatmatterssjh.org.

Targeting Tick-Borne Disease in Central New York

Posted on by admin

By Katy Mena-Berkley

Monday, April 27, 2020

The Central New York Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease Alliance is on a mission to eradicate increasingly prevalent tick-borne illnesses that have historically gone undetected in Central New York.

CNY Lyme Alliance members tour Thangamani Tick Lab at SUNY Upstate

 

A year and a half ago, career strategist and coach Anne Messenger was experiencing unusual fatigue, a symptom her provider attributed to sleep apnea when she went in for a routine annual physical.

“I yawned all the way through that appointment,” Messenger says. “But I also had other symptoms that were affecting my quality of life.”

In addition to the debilitating exhaustion, Messenger had heart palpitations, pain in her left foot, a strange tickling sensation in the back of her neck and brain fog that interfered with her ability to remember something as simple as the current score during a game of tennis.

It would take the counsel of another medical professional whose children were devastatingly impacted by Lyme disease to finally offer a possible explanation — Messenger may have Lyme disease herself.

To get to a definitive diagnosis, Messenger consulted Kristopher Paolino, MD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at State University of New York Upstate Medical University.

“Dr. Paolino is Upstate’s Lyme person,” Messenger says. “He figured out my diagnosis and invited me to a research conference at Cornell University.”

At that conference, the Central New York Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease Alliance began to take shape in the minds of people who could make a difference. Clinicians, researchers, scientists and higher education executives from Cornell University, Binghamton University, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry and Upstate Medical University were gathered together, investigating opportunities for translational research and collaboration.

“Multiple times in multiple ways, I heard scientists in the back of the room say they needed patients to observe,” Messenger says. “That happened again and again.”

Syracuse resident Royale Scuderi came to Messenger’s mind as she brainstormed about an organization that could effectively address the challenges of tick-borne disease.

Group presentation in Old Forge, New York (Left to Right): Kathy Ruscitto, Vice Chair; Kristopher Paolino, MD, MTM&H, FACP;
Anne Messenger, Alliance Board Chair; Brian Leydet, PhD, SUNY ESF; Scott Santarella, CEO, Global Lyme Alliance

“It is clear that delay in diagnosis and initiation of treatment of Lyme disease can result in increased morbidity with increased risk for chronic symptoms. Missing a case of anaplasmosis can have dire consequences.”
— Kristopher Paolino, MD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at State University of New York Upstate Medical University

Life with Lyme Disease

Diagnosed with late stage Lyme disease in March 2011 and with another tick-borne disease known as Babesia just four months later, Scuderi knew first-hand about the life-changing consequences of not having the right information at a critical time.

“I did not see a tick, nor did I have the bull’s eye rash,” Scuderi says. “Consequently, there is no way to discern how long I was infected with those diseases prior to my diagnosis. I do not remember when the symptoms started, but if I had the typical flu-like symptoms, we dismissed them as just that, flu or a virus. Lyme was not something that I or my doctors even considered.”

For months before her diagnosis, Scuderi experienced a widening range of debilitating symptoms, among them recurring headaches, nausea, joint pain, severe fatigue, and neck and back pain. She also began to develop fever, chills, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, stiff neck, insomnia, mental fogginess, difficulty concentrating and problems recalling words.

“As my health declined, I visited doctor after doctor,” she recalls. “I was tested for autoimmune diseases, cardiac conditions, pulmonary complications and allergies, along with an MRI to look for multiple sclerosis or neurological causes. I was misdiagnosed with arthritis and fibromyalgia. I was told repeatedly that the test results all looked normal and they could find nothing wrong with me.”

A local clinician finally tested Scuderi for Lyme and treated her with doxycycline. But relief of her symptoms was brief, as the Babesia co-infection further compromised Scuderi’s health.

After consultations with a specialist in Long Island, and another year of treatments, Scuderi finally began to find some relief, but only after the tick-borne diseases cost her significant time, money and wellness. It was three years before Scuderi could return to her normal daily activities.

“The toll of this long journey caused enormous hardship and suffering for myself and my family, along with years of lost wages and the end of a career as a freelance writer, as I could no longer form coherent thoughts,” Scuderi says. “It took several more years to eliminate the substantial debt incurred as a result of lost wages, treatments not covered by insurance and extensive travel.”

Scuderi says that when Messenger approached her during summer 2019 with the concept of an organization that would bring together clinicians, patients, researchers and advocates in an effort to solve the mysteries of tick-borne disease, she was eager to get involved. Today, Scuderi has turned her experience into action and serves as Executive Director for the Central New York Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease Alliance.

“The hope is that we can help attack the Lyme and tick-borne illnesses in our region through education and outreach to medical providers and to the community at large,” says Dr. Paolino, who is one of the founding members of the Central New York Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease Alliance. “We will also approach the problem via research initiatives that target environmental factors to help with prevention, as well as laboratory and clinical studies.”

Addressing a Growing Concern

Investigating the rapid rise of tick-borne disease is one of the chief objectives of researchers like Brian F. Leydet Jr., MPH, PhD, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology & Disease Ecology in the Department of Environmental and Forest Biology at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. In his research, Dr. Leydet, who is also on the board of the Central New York Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease Alliance, saw a spike in tick-borne disease in the region in 2008, an uptick that has not slowed.

“If we don’t think about stopping the spread of ticks in this area, then eventually, they are going to be everywhere,” Dr. Leydet says “We will also see increases in cases of tick-borne diseases, like Lyme disease, Babesia and anaplasmosis, unless we can figure out vaccines or some miracle method to wipe out the entire tick population. Once ticks are established, they are very hard to get rid of. We need to stop these ticks from spreading, because that is what is bringing disease into new areas.”

In partnership with area infectious-disease clinicians and scientists also involved with the Alliance, Dr. Leydet is working to advance diagnostics and vaccines for tick-borne diseases.

“I cannot think of a place where this would work better than in Syracuse,” Dr. Leydet says. “All I do is study tick-borne disease. The infectious disease clinicians are doing so many different things with patients and the local university experts have important insight into what is going on in the community. The Alliance will be a source of very unique information for patients and clinicians alike.”

A Resource for the Underserved

Due to lack of access to financial and medical resources, tick-borne disease has historically gone undetected and untreated in underserved communities such as the inner city, another challenge that the Alliance is seeking to address.

“So many families do not have access to the care they need, and when they are finally diagnosed, they are not covered by insurance,” says Kathy Ruscitto, Vice Chair of the Central New York Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease Alliance. “Early treatment is essential.”

Investigating the Offender

Saravanan Thangamani, PhD, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at State University of New York Upstate Medical University and Director of the SUNY Center for Environmental Health and Medicine, leads a tick-submission program for patients who find a tick on their bodies. Through the Citizen Science Tick Testing Program, those patients may send the tick in so that Dr. Thangamani and his team can assess the tick for pathogens and gather data to better understand the threat presented by these arachnids.

This robust gathering of information has already helped identify where ticks are most prevalent and offers patients vital information about whether they have contracted infections, including Lyme disease, Babesia and Ehrlichia.

To learn more about Lyme education for healthcare professionals, visit globallymealliance.org/education-awareness/physicians-training-program.

To track the emergence of ticks and tick-borne diseases in New York, visit www.thangamani-lab.com.

Brandiss Pearson, RN, Director of Community Engagement at Saint Joseph’s Health Hospital, was recruited to join the Alliance as a board member and to closely connect with inner-city communities.

“Underserved individuals are often not able to get the support they need,” Pearson says. “My role gives me the opportunity to speak about Lyme in a way that I would not have been able to before.”

One of the earliest initiatives of the Alliance is a grant for outreach to those in the region’s underserved neighborhoods.

“It is perplexing to me that we fight mosquitos, treat EEE, yet we have no strategy for tick control, eradication or treatment,” Ruscitto says. “Our goal in the Alliance is to help connect research, education, and treatment to help the residents of New York.”

To learn more, visit cnylymealliance.org.

World Class Care in Central New York at Auburn Community Hospital

Posted on by admin

By Katy Mena-Berkley

Monday, April 27, 2020

Auburn Community Hospital offers a wealth of specialized services to the Finger Lakes region.

When patients in Cayuga County and surrounding areas need high-quality, patient-centered health care, they do not have to travel far. Auburn Community Hospital (ACH), a not-for-profit facility, provides both acute and general hospital services to the population of 80,000. Roughly 95% of ACH physicians are board-certified in one or more specialties, ensuring that the majority of patients can access the care they need close to home.

ACH’s comprehensive scope of services includes cardiology, neurology, radiology, bariatrics, and obstetrics, as well as lifestyle-focused programs in areas such as nutritional counseling and pastoral care.

“At Auburn Community Hospital, our vision is simple. We will provide the best outcome for every patient, every time. We want you to know that we are always challenging ourselves to make the healthcare experience better for our patients, physicians and staff and ultimately our community. ACH health system invests in our community to make it better and trusts that our community will make the health system better in turn. We are neighbors and we need to take care of each other,” stated Scott Berlucchi, President & CEO, Auburn Community Hospital.

Collaborating for Cancer Care

Enhancing the expertise of the oncology specialists at ACH is a partnership with Syracuse-based Upstate Cancer Center, the only academic medical center in the region. Upstate’s program is ranked in the top 20% in the United States by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer and is the only facility in Central New York accredited by the organization.

Located on the hospital’s first floor, Upstate Cancer Center at Auburn Community Hospital offers a spectrum of advanced diagnostic and treatment resources delivered by board-certified physicians and nurses with extensive experience in hematology and oncology.

“We’re very excited about bringing all of the resources of Upstate and an academic medical center to Auburn,” says David B. Duggan, MD, Professor of Medicine at Upstate Cancer Center and Medical Director of Upstate Cancer Center at Auburn Community Hospital. “The physicians we work with are highly trained and have many years of specialized training.”

The skilled nursing staff at Upstate Cancer Center at Auburn is trained to administer a variety of treatments, including chemotherapy and infusion regimens, implementing plans designed by specialists and tailored to each individual patient. In the event that consultations or procedures are not available at the Auburn location, patients will have priority access to the facility in Syracuse. In either location, patients can expect a multidisciplinary case review by a team of experts. 

“Bringing the Upstate team to Auburn provides that team approach to cancer care that all patients want,” says Christina Sherman, RN, Director of Auburn Community Hospital Cancer Services, Upstate Cancer Center at Auburn Community Hospital.

An Engine for Economic Health

In addition to enhancing the physical wellness of the community, Auburn Community Hospital (ACH) is doing its part to improve economic fitness. Specifically, the Healthcare Association of New York State reported the following statistics associated with ACH:

People in Numbers

  • 400 babies delivered
  • 5,300 individuals admitted to hospitals
  • 25,000 individuals treated in the emergency room
  • 140,000 outpatients received care

Dollars and Cents

  • $175,000,000 in economic activity
  • $60,000,000 in payroll expenditures
  • $21,000,000 of generated tax dollars
  • $11,000,000 in community benefits and investments

“We want second opinions. We want to know what other doctors think. These are doctors who are world-class in their fields of expertise. This practice is built with the patient in mind.”

As a resident of Auburn and a longtime member of the Upstate Cancer Center team in Syracuse, Sherman was a strong proponent of the collaboration with ACH.

“Auburn was an underserved area in terms of cancer services, and I was seeing patients from my community drive to Syracuse for the expertise that they needed,” Sherman says. “The Upstate Cancer Center at Auburn offers local options from a multidisciplinary team in a familiar and intimate setting. Dr. Duggan grew up in Auburn, and his expertise in the field is unmatched.”

In addition to cancer treatments, Upstate Cancer Center at Auburn provides on-site pharmacy and phlebotomy services to streamline the delivery of medications and lab results.

Upstate Cancer Center at Auburn Community Hospital
 
Examination Room
 
Infusion Room
 

Dedicated to Core Values

In every area of expertise, clinicians, nurses and administrators at Auburn Community Hospital deliver service in accordance with four key principles. Clinicians who refer patients to ACH can count on:

  • Collaboration. Each individual on the ACH team works together with patients, external partners and one another to enhance health and well-being throughout the community.
  • Accountability. The ACH staff takes personal responsibility for individual and team performance.
  • Respect. Treating patients, families, co-workers and other members of the community with consideration, dignity and sensitivity is a priority for ACH.
  • Excellence. Adhering to the highest standards when delivering clinical care and overall service as well as continuously enhancing knowledge and skills is of paramount importance to the ACH team.

“Not only do we take care of you and your family when you have health issues, but we are also the largest employer in the area and with that comes a significant responsibility. Auburn Community Hospital generates more than 1,200 jobs in this community and helps maintain and improve our quality of life in this beautiful region of New York State,” Scott Berlucchi stated.

Answering the Virtual Call During the COVID-19 Pandemic

One of the most critical ways Auburn Community Hospital has been a leader in meeting the needs of the community during recent months is by rapidly enhancing telehealth capabilities for 90% of affiliated healthcare providers. The adoption of telehealth at ACH has been led by Paul Fu, MD, neurologist and Deputy Chief Medical Officer. Initially intended to offer choices for rural patients in need of routine appointments, the telehealth options were made available to any patients who would prefer to have consultations at home during the pandemic.

Auburn-based software development and services company Medent provides the telehealth options to ACH, and the process is seamless for clinicians and patients alike. Once a patient schedules his appointment, he receives a link through either an email or text message. When the appointment time arrives, the patient may open the link on a computer, smartphone or tablet and virtually connect with the provider.

Celebrating Advancements in Orthopedics: Syracuse Orthopedic Specialists’ One-Day Surgery Center

Posted on by admin

By Hillary Eames

Monday, April 27, 2020

The Syracuse Orthopedic Specialists’ One-Day Surgery Center celebrates one year of merging convenience with high-quality care in their new location.

April marks the one-year anniversary of the new, expanded location of the Syracuse Orthopedic Specialists’ One-Day Surgery Center.

 


J. Alan Lemley, MD


Brett Greenky, MD

“We opened our same-day surgery center in April 2019,” says James Alan Lemley, MD, President of the Surgery Center and Orthopedic Surgeon with Syracuse Orthopedic Specialists. “It’s given us the capability to do things that were previously only available to patients in hospital settings.”

Syracuse Orthopedic Specialists has offered outpatient surgery services for two decades, but as trends in orthopedics suggest outpatient procedures will become the standard of care, expanding to the new, state-of-the-art center was necessary to continue providing excellent care.

“There is a movement in orthopedics to make procedures traditionally inpatient-only, such as spinal surgeries or total joint replacements, into outpatient procedures,” says Brett Greenky, MD, President of Syracuse Orthopedic Specialists. “The advantages of same-day surgery for orthopedic procedures are significant.”

Benefits of Same-Day Total Joint Replacement

Total joint replacements, in particular, have shifted toward outpatient versus in-hospital procedures in recent years, and surgeons at Syracuse Orthopedic Specialists were the first to embrace the trend. Physicians use equipment and technology in outpatient settings that were previously considered only fit for hospital settings, allowing patients to receive hospital-quality care without spending several days in the facility. The practice of outpatient procedures lowers medical costs for patients and insurance companies, discounting the prices at an average of roughly 40%.

“Studies also show that the risk of infection goes down with the amount of time spent in the operating room,” Dr. Lemley says. “We’ve created a team of physicians, anesthesiologists, nurses and scrub technicians who know how to perform surgeries as efficiently and optimally as possible to minimize patient risk and complication.”

Patient Selection Designed to Increase Success

To ensure the success rate of outpatient orthopedic surgery is kept at optimal levels, physicians and staff at the center also implement a conservative patient selection process. If a patient has an A1c of 8.0 or higher, a BMI above 40 or other comorbidities that Syracuse Orthopedic Specialists’ physicians refer to as “hard stops,” the patient is discouraged from receiving orthopedic surgery on an outpatient level. Physicians, however, do not allow this to prevent patients from receiving excellent orthopedic care.

“We have a total joint replacement council that meets monthly to discuss such cases,” Dr. Greenky says. “If we think a patient needs an operation but has one or more of those hard stops, the panel reviews the case before anyone makes a decision and puts it to a vote. We will also continue to adjust our guidelines as new information becomes available.”

For patients for whom outpatient surgery is not an option, the locally owned One-Day Surgery Center also maintains a close relationship with nearby referring hospitals to ensure patients receive safe, effective and excellent orthopedic care.

To learn more about Syracuse Orthopedic Specialists, visit sosbones.com.

Virtual Visits

Syracuse Orthopedic Specialists is now offering Virtual Visits, to ensure timely and safe care for their patients. Also known as telemedicine, Virtual Visits allow patients to schedule a video visit with their doctor. Patients can stay home and continue their care without interruption.

Visit sosbones.com or call 315-251-3100 to learn more.