New, bigger, better: Columbia Memorial Hospital

2004 was an eventful year for Columbia Memorial Hospital. On August 23rd the hospital broke ground for an $18 million Parking Structure and Medical Office Building, the most ambitious construction project since the building of the Kellner Wing in 1999. This project will transform the hospital campus and the delivery of

services. The new structure will include a four story parking garage to accommodate 400 vehicles and a three-story outpatient services building. The new building has a diagnostic suite, enabling the hospital to shift outpatients to this facility where their scheduled appointments will not be interrupted by emergencies. The structures are being developed

by Landmark Healthcare Facilities LLC. The new hospital lobby and lobby services are supported by the Columbia-Greene Hospital Foundation and were designed by Architect Donald Blair of New York City.

State-of-the-art Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) will be installed in addition to CT, mammography, bone densitometry, and ultrasound. An outpatient lab will also be located in the new building, as will the rehabilitation department. This will facilitate outpatient access and allow space within the existing hospital structure for expansion of inpatient services. This new structure will be connected to the main hospital at both the lobby level and the basement level, enabling the transfer of inpatients to the diagnostic suite on the lower level, while facilitating access of outpatients on the ground floor level.

As of February 2005, the footings and foundation have been poured for the parking structure. Pre-cast deliverables for the structure arrive in mid-March. Significant progress will be visible by April. Because of the hospital's steep, hillside site, a 180' linear foot retaining wall was built. Site contractors hauled off more than 30,000 tons of soil. The parking structure should be finished by July of 2005 and the office building completed by late winter of 2006.

Renovations, new facilities, new equipment

The hospital opened its new Hospice Unit in November. At the same time, it created a central nurses station to serve the entire fourth floor. The former nurses' station became a patient/visitor lounge with a wonderful view of the Catskills.

Planning for the renovation and expansion of the Intensive Care Unit has begun. Initially, the hospital will create four (4) new Intensive Care rooms in the corridor across from the current Intensive Care Unit, then proceed to the existing unit to renovate the space for the eight (8) existing beds. Walls in the corridor will be removed and a centralized nurses station will be created. This project will be completed in 2006.

In 2004, the hospital made significant investments in equipment and technology. New cardiac monitoring equipment for patient care floors, operating rooms, and post-anesthesia care units were installed. This represents a $500,000 investment.
The hospital also added equipment in their operating rooms to enhance their minimally invasive surgery capabilities.

"Throughout the hospital, we are moving toward wireless technology and, in general, are computerizing many functions which were performed manually. This increases efficiency, improves accuracy, and reduces errors, according to hospital officials. Thanks to the hospital Auxiliary, Columbia Memorial has introduced a new level of technology to the medical imaging department - computer-assisted diagnostics," says hospital CEO Jane Ehrlich.

New equipment, commonly referred to as the "image checker" was purchased with funds donated by the hospital Auxiliary. This equipment is highly sensitive and improves the accuracy of detecting abnormalities on mammograms by 21%. The Auxiliary's gift for the year totaled $116,000. In addition to the image checker, their gift will be used to refurbish the hospital elevators and purchase furnishings for the Long Term Care facility in Catskill.

Hospital improvements are attracting new physicians

"Our focus on expert medicine at the hospital and our Family Care Centers is attracting new physicians who want to work with us and live in beautiful Columbia and Greene counties," says Ehrlich.

"They come to us from some of the most prestigious medical schools and residency programs in North America."

Recently, Barbara McLaren, MD, who received her medical degree from Albany Medical College and completed her residency in OB/GYN at Howard University in Washington, DC, joined the hospital after practicing for several years in Georgia. Jai Kim, MD, who completed her residency in family practice at the University of Maryland, began practicing at the Ghent Family Care Center in July 2004. Erica Kreisman, MD, received her medical degree from Mt. Sinai Medical School and completed her residency in emergency medicine at NYU Bellevue in New York City. She joined the staff of the hospital's Emergency Department. Marie Lingat, MD, completed her pulmonary fellowship with Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh. Jalin Sama, MD, completed her residency at New York Presbyterian in anesthesiology and has joined the Anesthesia Department. Maria McPherson, MD, who received her medical degree from SUNY in Syracuse and completed her ophthalmology residency at New York Medical College, has joined Dr. Sandy Ullman and Dr. Jennifer Logan in the practice of ophthalmology.

New education programs spur staff recruitment

As the hospital continues this fast-paced growth, the search for expert staff continues. Columbia Memorial has begun a program which targets high school students to interest them in health care professions. There are several initiatives underway including a "shadowing" program, a health career week program, and a speaker's bureau. In addition, the Career Ladder Program, initiated last year, will be expanded.

A Loan Forgiveness Program is being piloted for employees who have an interest in becoming a health care professional in one of the hospital's shortage areas. Under this program, the hospital pays the employee's tuition. At the completion of the
educational program, the employee continues to work for the hospital for an established period of time after which the tuition loan is "forgiven." This program is for students and graduating seniors as well.

New procedures

Last summer, Dr. Daniel Melamed and Dr. Edward Farhangi initiated brachytherapy at Columbia Memorial. Brachytherapy is a radiation seed implant procedure for the treatment of prostate cancer. Dr. Melamed is a graduate of Tulane Medical School and completed residencies in both pathology and urology at Cornell University in New York and New York Medical College respectively. Dr. Farhangi received his medical degree from Rush Medical College in Chicago and completed his radiation oncology residency at the University of Chicago.

Prestigious teaching day

The second annual Columbia Memorial Hospital Cardiovascular Teaching Day was held in October. Dr. Louis Clinton, senior Cardiologist at Columbia Memorial, introduced a star studded cast of Cardiologists and Cardiovascular physicians from some of the most prestigious medical institutions in the country including Yale, Mass General, and New York Presbyterian. The conference was open to physicians throughout the region.

Ball raises more than $275,000

Breaking all previous records, The Black and White Ball in June, Columbia Memorial's 16th Annual Dinner Dance, raised $275,000 to support new programs and the construction of advanced facilities at the hospital.

This dinner-dance is the premier annual fundraising event supporting capital improvements at Columbia Memorial. Last year's ball honored longtime hospital supporters Mr. and Mrs. Jerome A. French.

"This was our most successful fundraiser ever and probably the most financially successful fundraiser ever in Columbia and Greene counties," said Keith A. Lampman, Executive Director of the Foundation.

Hospitalist program benefits patients and local doctors

Columbia Memorial now has physicians on staff who exclusively admit patients for primary care physicians in the community. This model,first introduced in Europe and Canada, has taken hold at progressive hospitals, such as Columbia Memorial, here in the United States.

The Hospitalist Program was initiated by Dr. Jack Keene. According to Keene, primary care physicians often must juggle their responsibilities at their offices and at the hospital. This creates problems when a physician is called to the hospital if a patient needs immediate medical attention because office appointments are cancelled or delayed. When a physician is doing rounds at the hospital, there are pressing issues that must be dealt with and, in turn, that day's schedule at his/her regular office is thrown into chaos," says Keene.

"Having hospitalists serving those doctors and those patients without primary care physicians, is a win-win situation for all concerned."

Nationally recognized vascular surgeons working at Columbia Memorial

Varicose veins, carotid artery surgery to prevent strokes, and procedures to treat hardening of the arteries are just a few of the advanced procedures now being offered at Columbia Memorial through a relationship with surgeons from the nationally recognized Vascular Group of Albany, New York.

Under the direction of Dhiraj Shah, MD, physicians Paul Kreienberg and R. Clement Darling are performing surgeries weekly in the new, state-of-the art vascular surgery suite at Columbia Memorial.

The Vascular Group performs more vascular procedures annually than any other group in the world, according to Kreienberg.

"Columbia Memorial Hospital is a superb facility - it is well staffed with nurses who are trained in vascular procedures. The new unit has all the best equipment. We work with other hospitals but this is one of the nicest and newest facilities we use. It allows us to do such procedures as creating conduits in the veins for patients needing kidney dialysis. We can do balloon catheterizations, angioplasties, and insert non-coronary stents in peripheral arteries" says Kreienberg.

"The most startling fact about our work here," he continues, "is that patients from the Capital District come to Columbia Memorial for vascular procedures because it is easier to get in and out of here. They get the same vascular consultations and surgeries as they would get at the Albany hospitals, without the long waiting times. And in a state-of-the-art facility."

Columbia Memorial's Family Birth Place keeps getting better

Columbia Memorial Hospital continues to upgrade its Obstetrics Unit. The Family Birth Place is a home-like environment where mothers labor, deliver and recuperate in the same room under the direction of skilled maternity nurses. The maternity nursing staff has an average of 14 years experience in maternity nursing and assist with approximately 500 births per year.

"What makes the Birth Place special is the atmosphere. The feeling is warm, inviting, more family-care centered than the traditional model," says Alane Mazzacano, RN, Director of Women's Health Services at Columbia Memorial.

"We have added more obstetricians and midwives. Patients in the area now have their choice of both male and female obstetricians and nurse midwives to handle their delivery," she says.

The Department of Anesthesia currently provides a full range of pain control options to mothers in labor. The Family Birth Place also has 100% of their staff certified in neonatal resuscitation by the American Heart Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The Family Birth Place provides vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) for mothers who want to pursue a vaginal birth after previously having a child by cesarean section. This procedure is done with hospital operating room staff standing by in case of complications that require a C-section.

Gentler breast biopsy helps women avoid open surgery

A new breast biopsy system at Columbia Memorial Hospital helps women avoid the stitches and scarring associated with traditional open surgical biopsies.

Women faced with a suspicious, small, breast lump may now be able to avoid an open surgical breast biopsy and the operating room.

Dr. Guy Burman of Columbia Memorial is performing less invasive breast biopsies that are a reliable diagnostic alternative to open surgical biopsies. Biopsies with the new equipment take less than an hour, require no stitches and allow women to return to normal activity immediate following the procedure. According to Burman, minimally invasive breast biopsies are rapidly replacing open surgical biopsies in the diagnosis of breast abnormalities.

In a minimally invasive breast biopsy using the new system, a woman sits up or lays on her back, while a physician using a local anesthetic inserts a special probe through a tiny incision (about the size of a match head) in the breast. Using ultrasound, the doctor can accurately pinpoint suspicious tissue and gently vacuum, cut and remove it for further examination - with no operating room, no stitches, less scarring and much less pain.

Hospital begins wound care program

Columbia Memorial Hospital now offers a program for the diagnosis and treatment of chronic, non-healing wounds at offices at Jefferson Heights, Catskill.
Difficult-to-heal wounds can result from traumatic injury, vascular disease, diabetes, surgical complications, rheumatoid arthritis, arterial or venous ulcers and many other conditions. Non-healing wounds can sometimes lead to serious complications.

About five million Americans suffer from chronic open sores which can become seriously infected, gangrenous and in some cases require amputation. This is often due to limited blood flow which can slow the body's own healing process. Most wounds can be healed with appropriate, comprehensive treatment.

The services of the Center for Wound Care at Columbia Memorial Hospital are designed to integrate protocols to ensure that patients see the right specialists. The service is being offered now in an outpatient setting.

Campus to go smoke-free

Beginning in January of 2004, Columbia Memorial Hospital began the process towards creating a tobacco-free campus. By June 2006, there will be no smoking or use of tobacco products anywhere in or around the hospital or any of its off-campus facilities. The program will be phased in over an 18 month period.

"Inherent in the mission of our hospital is the mandate to reduce the incidence of death and disease," says hospital CEO Jane Ehrlich.

"In 1987 the Surgeon General reported smoking to be the leading cause of avoidable death. To facilitate smoking in the face of this information is in direct conflict with our hospital mission. Administration and our Board of Trustees recognize that this is a challenging undertaking, but hospitals across the country are embracing the tobacco free campus concept. To allow smoking on campus where we are treating patients, many of whom already have respiratory and/or cardiac disease, compounds their illness." says Ehrlich.

The hospital treats tobacco users with their innovative Quit Program. It provides trained tobacco cessation specialists who have counseling backgrounds to help the public, patients, and their loved ones to stop smoking and live healthier lives. This program was established by Mary Daggett, RN, Director of Community Health Services at Columbia Memorial under a $400,000 grant from the Department of Health.

Daggett explains that the sight of someone lighting up, the smell of cigarette smoke, or even the sight of cigarette butts on the ground can trigger the desire to smoke in one who has quit or is in the process of quitting.
"We cannot convince twin-county residents and companies of the need to eliminate tobacco dependence if we cannot be a model ourselves for healthier life choices," says Daggett.

"Fifty percent of all smokers make an attempt to quit, but traditionally less than 10% succeed in quitting permanently. Research has shown that smokers who use a form of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) have a higher success rate in quitting. The patch, gum and other products, allow smokers to gradually reduce dependence on cigarettes as a means of coping with anxiety, stress and other emotions experienced during nicotine withdrawal. The average smoker will try to quit about 6 times before giving up cigarettes for good," says Daggett.

She says that it is never too late to stop smoking. Even for people who have been smoking for many years, there are immediate benefits to quitting.

According to health department statistics, after one year, an ex-smoker's risk of having a heart attack is cut in half.

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