heal this day region’s first heart hospital to...
TRANSCRIPT
MERITER CREATES A “HOSPITALWITHIN A HOSPITAL”
Years of research, planning and design
will come together this summer with the
opening of the Meriter Heart Hospital,
the first hospital of its kind in the region.
“The Heart Hospital is a new concept
in care, locally, that will showcase the
latest technology and care teams that
are among the best in the country,” says
Meriter President and CEO Jim
Woodward. “It’s yet another way that
Meriter, as a not-for-profit hospital,
continues to focus on our mission to
heal, to teach and to serve.”
The 33,000-square-foot state-of-the-art
“hospital within a hospital” is located on
the upper two floors of Meriter Hospital.
“The facility has been thoughtfully
designed around the needs of patients
with cardiovascular diseases, those
conditions that affect the heart and the
network of blood vessels that carry blood
to and from the heart,” explains
Assistant Vice President of
Cardiovascular Services Una Alderman.
Some of the Heart Hospital’s notable
features include:
• 45 private family-friendly patient
rooms, designed and equipped to
handle all phases of recovery for
cardiac patients
• 16 short-stay beds, in private rooms,
adjacent to the procedure area to
allow for efficient admission and
discharge for patients who do not
require an overnight stay
• 5 state-of-the-art digital cardiac,
vascular and electrophysiology
procedure labs, with room to grow
• Direct elevator access to the
emergency room, operating rooms,
medical imaging and the helicopter
landing pad
• Epic electronic medical record system,
which minimizes the need for patients
to give the same information more
than once
• State-of-the-art digital image
management system and CT scanners,
which enable physicians and others to
view cardiac and other medical images
on computers, both inside and outside
the hospital
• A hands-free wireless communication
system that allows nurses to be
notified immediately about their
patients’ needs in a quiet environment
that essentially eliminates overhead
paging
N E W S A N D V I E W S O N D A N E C O U N T Y H E A L T H S U M M E R 2 0 0 7
HEAL THIS DAY
TEACH FOR TOMORROW
SERVE OUR COMMUNITIES
EMBRACE EXCELLENCE ALWAYS
ABOVE AND BEYOND
HEAL THIS DAY
Region’s First Heart Hospital to Open Soon
Patient rooms at the nearly completed Meriter Heart Hospital are private and spacious
with a view of scenic Madison.
Continued on page 2
Being first is not a new concept for
Meriter Hospital. It was the first in
Madison to open a coronary intensive
care unit, the first to perform heart
bypass surgery, the first to implant
biventricular pacemakers and the first to
provide a bloodless medicine and
surgery program. In addition, in 2003,
Meriter Hospital became the first
nationally accredited Chest Pain Center
in Wisconsin, and is still the only one in
Madison.
“Meriter has a reputation for being on
the forefront in introducing innovative
technology and services,” says Joseph
Bellissimo, MD, FACC, a cardiologist
with Wisconsin Heart and Vascular
Institute, and the Medical Director of
Cardiovascular Services at Meriter.
In addition, he says, “The
cardiovascular program at Meriter has
always been about striving for
excellence. That determination has not
gone unnoticed. In the past year alone,
the hospital has received numerous state
and national awards that attest to the
quality care delivered here.”
Those awards include:
• The Wisconsin Forward Governor’s
Award, the highest level awarded
• Solucient Top 100 Cardiovascular
Hospitals
• VHA Leadership Award for Clinical
Excellence
• American Heart Association “Get With
the Guidelines” Recognition
“The cardiovascular team at Meriter is
dedicated to providing the best
prevention, diagnostic, intervention and
rehabilitation services. We use emerging
technologies and treatment methods,
and strive to employ the least invasive
procedures whenever possible,” notes
Khosro (Ed) Adib, MD, Surgical Director
of Cardiovascular Services and a UW
Health physician.
“We set high standards for leadership,
innovation, quality care and range of
services,” he adds, “and we are
extremely proud of our clinical
outcomes, which are among the best in
the nation.”
Bellissimo says, “Consolidating
cardiovascular services in one state-of-
the-art facility will benefit both patients
and clinicians. We already have an
immensely talented and dedicated
medical staff that provides the full
spectrum of cardiac and vascular care.
The new facility will allow us to provide
the same high quality care, but in a more
technologically advanced environment.”
Linda Wonoski, RN, MSN, notes,
“Significant effort was put forth during
the planning stage to ensure a design
that not only improves the efficiency and
effectiveness of our staff, but also
enhances the patient and family
experience.”
Wonoski—the inpatient unit’s nurse
manager—explains, “Each patient will
have a private room with a private bath
that is fully equipped to meet his or her
medical needs. The addition of a sleeper
sofa and flat panel television—along with
spectacular views of Madison and its
lakes—will add to the healing
environment patients and families
experience.”
Adib notes that the Heart Hospital was
built in anticipation of future
technological advances. “Technology
changes rapidly, and we want to be able
to easily adapt to those changes,” he
says. “I would say that the hospital has
done an excellent job in melding high-
tech with comfort and compassion.”
For more information about Meriter’s
physician-led and patient-
focused Heart Hospital, visit
www.meriterhearthospital.com.
2 MERITER FOCUS
HEAL THIS DAY
TEACH FOR TOMORROW
SERVE OUR COMMUNITIES
EMBRACE EXCELLENCE ALWAYS
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HEAL THIS DAY
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Heart Hospital Provider Team
Meriter Heart Hospital isproud of its affiliations with aprestigious group ofcardiologists, cardiovascularsurgeons and affiliated staffmembers who provide allaspects of cardiovascularcare.
Physician group providersinclude:
• Wisconsin Heart andVascular Institutewww.wiheart.com
• UW Health Heart andVascular Carewww.uwhealth.org/heartandvascular
• Associated Physicians, LLPwww.apmadison.com
Joseph Bellissimo, MD, a Wisconsin Heart and Vascular Institute Cardiologist, is Medical Director of Meriter Heart Hospital.
Physicians affiliated with Meriter
Hospital have been in on the “ground
floor” of innovative medicine in several
instances throughout the years, most
often involving the use of emerging
procedures and new technologies that
are now considered standards of care
within their specialties.
Add to that list a new entry in the
orthopedic surgery field—computer-
assisted total joint replacement
procedures.
In traditional joint replacement
procedures, surgeons achieve proper
alignment through “feel.” In other words,
surgeons use specialized cutting blocks
combined with years of operating room
experience to determine where best to
remove bone for the implant.
Computer-assisted surgery is like a
global positioning system for orthopedic
surgeons in that they use infrared
cameras, digitized bone images and
tracking devices to guide them in making
accurate incisions in the diseased bone.
The technology also allows for smaller
incisions, less trauma to muscles and
soft tissue and, potentially, fewer
complications.
Holly Duck, MD, and David Bartlett,
MD, of Bone & Joint Surgery Associates,
and James Bowers, MD, of John
Rogerson, MD, SC, are Meriter-affiliated
orthopedic surgeons who use Smith &
Nephew’s “AchieveCAS®” system during
joint replacement procedures.
“The computer helps me set the jig cuts
in the damaged portion of the patient’s
socket, which allows me to position the
components in the most accurate
alignment possible,” says Duck. “Being
able to pinpoint alignment is important,
because it may reduce the need for
corrective surgery in hips due to
dislocation, and makes it more likely that
all implants—both in hips and knees—will
last longer.
That’s good for patients, because the
longer a component lasts (currently 10 to
20 years), the more likely they will be able
to ultimately do without future corrective
surgeries to the joint.
“My goal going in (to surgery) was to get
back to being at least as active, if not
more active, than I was before surgery,”
says JoAnn Kollath of Madison, who was
Duck’s first computer-assisted knee
replacement recipient last fall. Her
assessment five months after surgery is
that her new knee is working quite well,
to a point where she’s now been able to
ditch the cart and navigate, by foot, some
of our area’s golf courses.
“I was not hesitant at all, even though I
was Dr. Duck’s first case using the
computer assistance. I just felt that
anything that would help with
precision would be important in the
long run, and that the computer
would allow better placement of the
new knee,” Kollath adds.
Bowers, who has
performed more
than 50 knee
replacements
using computer
assistance, believes the
technology helps
reassure patients that
their new knees are
properly positioned. Seeing
images of their knee in the correct
alignment and fully extended, in turn,
motivates patients to get back all their
possible range of motion while in therapy.
“I like receiving feedback during
surgery that the components are in
proper position and that I have been able
to correct the prior deformity,” Bowers
says. “I also like being able to perform the
surgery without placing a rod into the
femoral canal (to determine proper knee
implant alignment), which decreases the
likelihood of systemic emboli.”
Duck and Bowers agree that the scope
of computer-assisted surgical procedures
will likely expand and become more
common for a wide range of medical
applications.
HEAL THIS DAY
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MERITER FOCUS 3
Knee Bone’s Connected to the...Computer
FOR MORE INFORMATION
James Bowers, MDJohn Rogerson, MD, SC(608) 231-3410www.orthorogerson.com
Holly Duck, MDDavid Bartlett, MDBone & Joint Surgery Associates608-238-9311www.boneandjointsurgeryassociates.com
Golf enthusiast JoAnn
Kollath and orthopedic
surgeon Holly Duck, MD
HEAL THIS DAY
TEACH FOR TOMORROW
SERVE OUR COMMUNITIES
EMBRACE EXCELLENCE ALWAYS
ABOVE AND BEYOND
HEAL THIS DAY
4 MERITER FOCUS
For nearly 20 years, the Sexual Assault
Nurse Examiner (SANE) Program at
Meriter Hospital has provided services
for victims of sexual crimes.
SANE nurses—registered nurses who
have completed an extra 100 hours of
specialized classroom work and clinical
training—conduct medical examinations
and collect forensic evidence with a
special understanding of the emotional
and physical trauma that may be present
after a sexual assault.
The program has helped thousands of
victims begin to piece their lives back
together, but it can’t work “in a vacuum,”
says Jill Poarch, who coordinates the
program at Meriter.
She believes it is essential to work
within a collaborative framework with
others who will be involved in
the further care, investigation
and prosecution of these
cases. “This ensures a
comprehensive, organized
response to the victim and
the crime of rape.”
For Meriter, that
framework includes the Rape
Crisis Center, the Madison
Police Department Sensitive
Crimes Division and the
Dane County District
Attorney’s office.
Kelly Anderson of the Rape
Crisis Center (RCC) says her
agency focuses on supporting
the victim. She explains,
“Connecting with RCC right
away creates a relationship
early in the process—that
gives the victim someone to
talk to when deciding
whether or not to report the
crime. Our role of counseling
and advocacy frees up the
other parts of the system to
do their role.”
When and if a victim decides to report
the crime, the police department steps
in. In Madison, Sensitive Crimes
Detective Marion Morgan is often
assigned to these cases. She, too, is a
strong supporter of the collaborative
approach.
“We are better as a team,” Morgan
says. “Knowing that the Rape Crisis
Center is filling the advocacy role allows
the medical-forensic and law
enforcement experts to focus on being
the fact finders.”
She adds that the community is well
served by the work of the SANE
Program. “Having quality physical
evidence can mean that the victim
doesn’t have to testify. Finding the truth
is important for wrongly accused
suspects, too, since evidence can
exonerate as well as implicate.”
The final piece—if the victim chooses—
is prosecution. In Dane County, that
means the District Attorney’s office.
Deputy Assistant Attorney Judy
Schwaemle says her office is responsible
for reviewing police reports for
prosecutive merit and determining if
there is sufficient evidence to charge the
case criminally.
Schwaemle says, “We are very
fortunate in this community to have an
excellent working relationship between
SANE and law enforcement. The
expertise of SANE is frankly invaluable
in prosecuting cases.”
So, what should someone do in the first
vulnerable hours following a sexual
assault? All four women agree that
taking care of one’s medical, physical
and emotional needs should be the
priority. That could begin with an
anonymous call to the Rape Crisis Line
(608-251-RAPE) or a visit to the Meriter
Hospital Emergency Room for treatment
of injuries or other health concerns.
“We know how hard it is for victims to
take that first step,” Poarch says, “but
they should know that many dedicated
and compassionate people are ready to
help them through each step of the
process.”
Services of the SANE Program—the
only one of its kind in Dane County—are
available 24 hours a day, seven days a
week. Each year, about 400 people are
served; half are under the age of 17. The
program is supported by Friends of
Meriter Auxiliary, Madison Police
Department, Meriter Foundation, Rape
Crisis Center, United Way of Dane
County, YWCA of Madison and the SANE
Advisory Board. To learn more, visit
www.meriter.com/sane.
For Them, a Team Approach Works Best
(l-r) Marion Morgan, Judy Schwaemle, Kelly Anderson and Jill
Poarch use a team approach in serving victims of sexual crimes.
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HEAL THIS DAY
TEACH FOR TOMORROW
SERVE OUR COMMUNITIES
EMBRACE EXCELLENCE ALWAYS
ABOVE AND BEYOND
HEAL THIS DAY
MERITER FOCUS 5
Meriter Hospital Earns
VHA Leadership Award
Meriter Hospital recently received the
2007 VHA Leadership Award for Clinical
Excellence, a national award for
performance excellence. Meriter was
recognized for achieving a score in
excess of 90 percent on clinical core
measures for acute myocardial
infarction and heart failure. VHA Inc. is
a national healthcare provider alliance
that helps member networks work
together to identify and implement best
practices to improve operational and
clinical performance.
Meriter Terraces:
Another Perfect Survey
Meriter Terraces recently received its
third ‘perfect’ survey from the Wisconsin
Office of Quality Assurance. Surveyors
arrived unannounced in March to
evaluate the care and clinical follow-up
of residents at Meriter’s supportive-
living facility for frail older adults,
including those with cognitive
impairments. The survey included
interviews with staff and residents, a
review of records, and an inspection of
the physical plant and residential
environment. At the conclusion, not a
single area was cited for improvement.
Meriter Laboratories
Earns CAP Accreditation
Meriter Laboratories recently earned
accreditation by the College of American
Pathologists (CAP). The recognition
means that the lab was evaluated during
an onsite inspection and found to be in
compliance with CAP’s rigorous
standards.
CAP is a medical society serving
nearly 16,000 physician members and the
laboratory community throughout the
world. It is the world’s largest
association composed exclusively of
pathologists and is widely considered the
leader in laboratory quality assurance.
Meriter Heights Resident Honored
Meriter Heights resident Marge
Dunham is one of 12 people who were
honored at United Way of Dane County’s
2007 Community Volunteer Awards
Luncheon. Dunham, a volunteer in the
Meriter Retirement Community’s library,
was recognized for her efforts to expand
the library’s collection and for teaching
computer skills to residents.
The Meriter Retirement Community
provides housing, health and wellness
services for older adults in four
facilities–MainGate, Meriter Heights,
Meriter Terraces and Meriter Health
Center.
Online Pre-registration Now Offered
People having scheduled procedures
at Meriter Hospital now can pre-register
at www.meriter.com/registration via a
secure online form. For those who prefer,
pre-registration by phone is
still available on weekdays.
New Phone System
Conversion is Underway
Meriter is converting to a new phone
system that has the same cabling and
infrastructure as the organization’s
desktop computers. Compared to the
current system, the new generation of
voice technology is expected to be more
reliable and flexible, supporting
integration with advanced clinical
systems and improving call flow between
Meriter facilities. The new system should
be fully implemented by the end of the
summer.
A simplified number range—a
component of the new system—will
mean new phone numbers for most
Meriter services. However, all numbers
listed in the 2007 AT&T Directory will
remain operational until after 2008
directories are distributed.
Honors, Achievements and Announcements
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*UW Health Physician and UW School of Medicine and Public Health Faculty Member
James Bowers, MDOrthopaedicsJohn S. Rogerson, MD, SC
Suzanne M. Welsch, MD *Obstetrics & GynecologyUW Physicians - West Clinic
Andrew P. Wright, DDS,MSDEndodonticsMadison EndodonticAssociates
Heather E. Certain, MD *HospitalistUW Health Physicians &Meriter Hospital
For a directory of all Meriter physicians, visitwww.meriter.com/doctors.
At Meriter Hospital, the partner relationship with the physicians who practice here is an essential ingredient in ourmission to Heal, Teach, and Serve. We are pleased to welcome the following physicians who were appointed to our medicalstaff in November 2006-April 2007:
Welcome New Physicians!.com
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NONPROFIT ORG.U.S. POSTAGE
PAIDMADISON, WIPERMIT #1181
Meriter Health Services, Inc.202 S. Park StreetMadison, WI 53715www.meriter.com
Meriter Health Services provideshealth care services to residents ofsouthern Wisconsin and areas ofnorthwest Illinois through its family ofcompanies. Meriter Hospital is a not-for-profit, locally directed, teachinghospital that proudly serves thecommunity.
MERITER’S MISSION IS:
to heal this dayto teach for tomorrowto embrace excellence alwaysto serve our communities — for a lifetime of quality health care.
FOCUSEditor: Elizabeth J. KastContributors: Steve Gasser Design: Debbie KraftFocus is published three times per year by the Meriter HealthServices Marketing Department.Phone: 608-417-5620
WHAT’S INSIDE?
COMPUTERS INSURGERYIncreased Precision for JointReplacements, Page 3.
HEART HOSPITALRegion’s First to Open,Page 1.
A TEAMAPPROACHFor Victims of SexualCrimes, Page 4.
This mouse icon is a visual cue toremind readers that there’s moreinformation on www.meriter.com
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Madison’s First Heart HospitalThe new Meriter Heart Hospital centralizes services to enhancepatient care and quality. Our region’s first “heart hospital within ahospital” will feature:
• Private patient rooms• 45-bed inpatient and 16-bed short-stay units• Diagnostic, treatment and therapy
services for all stages of heart disease• Next-generation technology
July 2007Opening
Sunday, June 2411 a.m. to 2 p.m.• Guided tours• Free screenings• Interactive displays• Refreshments• Free heart healthy recipes• Prize drawings• Free parking
See our new
Heart Hospital!202 S. Park Street, Lobby
Raising the Standards for Cardiovascular Care
www.meriterhearthospital.com