200th robot-assisted surgery

At 7:45 a.m. on June 1 Myron Luthringer, MD, performed the 200th robot-assisted surgery at Community General Hospital.

This makes Community's robot surgery program the fastest growing -- and the largest -- in Syracuse NY.

This new surgery has been developed safely and effectively, thanks to the surgeons and the robot team. Community's director of robot-assisted surgery is Po Lam, MD. He has performed the most cases to date, followed by Dr. Luthringer. Jennifer Marsiale, MD (in the photo), and Andres Madissoo, MD, have also been credentialed for this type of surgery, and other surgeons are in the process of becoming so.

Congratulations to Community's surgeons and the robot team.

Today's photo on the blog

Part of the fun is the banter.

I bantered a lot yesterday on the first hole at the Shenendoah Golf Course at Turning Stone Resort during the 25th annual Pro-Am Golf Tournament of the Community General Foundation. It turned out to be the Foundation's most successful tourney ever, netting some $110,000.

That makes it one of the top charity golf events -- if not the top -- in Central New York. And in this tough economic environment, that's saying something.

The tourney's success comes from great supporters of Community General Hospital -- the doctors, the businesses, and the individuals. It comes from a great Foundation Board, chaired by Scott Matukas; from great team participants and professional golfers; and from a great staff lead by Community's John Zacharek, Vice President - External Affairs.

Each foursome was paired with a Central New York PGA member. That means the amateurs played alongside pros with the interplay adding real value for the players during their five or six hours on an excellent course.

So there I was at the first hole, thanking all the players, making sure they got a gift memento of the day, and watching as team photos were taken. The picture-taking, as you may imagine, generated a fair amount of good-natured ribbing. Some exaggerated their golf accomplishments, some teased about shots-gone-horribly-wrong, and a few playfully lied about their names to Dan Cameron, who was snapping the pictures.

When David Northrup of Team Merrill Lynch challenged me to put the photo in Community's main lobby, I told him I wouldn't promise the lobby but he shouldn't be surprised to find the team on the web Saturday morning.

That's David, on the left, with his teammates Frank Pfau, Richard Neal, and John Redmond. They finished 10 under par in best-ball competition. In the center is PGA member Rob Phelps of the Onondaga Golf & Country Club. At two under, he tied for second place among PGA players yesterday afternoon.

The CNY PGA site has results of the morning flight for amateurs and pros, as well as the afternoon amateur and pro scores.

Thank you, everyone, for supporting a great cause on a great day.

Testing surge capacity

Community General Hospital tested its emergency preparedness this week when 20 “accident victims” showed up in the emergency department for a first-of-the-kind state exercise.

"Victims" arriving at Community General Hospital

The Exercise Plan (ExPlan) tests a hospital's surge capacity (at least 20% above typical emergency patient volume).

The ExPlan will be required for New York State hospitals in 2010, and Community was the first hospital to test the exercise for the Department of Health (DOH).

A "mass casualty" victim entering the ED

That screaming in our ED came from some of the high school students who played "victims" of a mass casualty event, complete with moulage (makeup simulating wounds). Exercising their vocal chords was part of the verisimilitude.

The training scenario, developed by the State Department of Health, activates a hospital's incident command system, allowing the hospital to practice its its ability to triage victims, to treat them, and to prepare the entire hospital, including surgery, for the influx.

Triaging a "victim"

It was a learning experience for all of us, and we certainly appreciate the help of the DOH in developing the significant resources needed to prepare, conduct, and evaluate this exercise.

Community's incident command center

And now, thanks for our sponsors

My thanks to the sponsors of the 25th annual Pro-Am Golf Tournament of the Community General Foundation:

IBEW NECA Local #43, Presenting Sponsor
Pepsi, Silver Anniversary Sponsor
Welch Allyn, Cart Sponsor
Syracuse Orthopedic Specialists, Reception Sponsor
Crouse Radiology, Pro Sponsor

We couldn't do it without these sponsors.

The tourney will be Friday, June 5, at the Shenendoah Golf Club at the renowned Turning Stone Resort.

The tournament features two rounds of golf -- one in the morning, another in the afternoon. In the evening, the reception will be at the beautiful Shenendoah Clubhouse (shown below) with prizes awarded.

Each foursome plays a round of golf with a Central New York golf professional. The pro's are competing for a PGA prize. There are a handful of openings left.

Thank you, sponsors!

Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney and Syracuse Mayor Matt Driscoll stopped at Community General one day this month to say thanks to employees for their work with patients.

During National Hospital Week, Community recognized all its 1,150 employees with free meals, free cardiac risk screens, and free “green” grocery tote bags. Both Joanie Mahoney and Matt Driscoll told employees how much they appreciate the hospital and how how hospital staff has treated their family members with professionalism and courtesy. Many employees thanked the elected officials for their service to the community, as well.

New York State Assembly members Joan Christensen, Bill Magnarelli, and Al Stirpe, who were unable to attend, each sent letters acknowledging Community’s workers.

Here are photos of our special day -- that's the County Executive with Health Office employees and the Mayor with Food Service staff.

The cover of MD News

It's great to see Dr. Myron Luthringer featured on the cover of MD News, Central New York Edition, for his work with the daVinci surgical robot.

Some 8% of the nation's hospitals have daVinci robots, and it takes skilled surgeons and an excellent robot team to safely and successfully begin using robot technology in the operating room.

Community General is fortunate to have Dr. Po Lam as Medical Director of Robotic Surgery and Dr. Luthringer as the first gynecologist credentialied for robotics at Community. Dr. Luthringer has offices in Syracuse and Auburn, NY.

From the Flora Bernice Smith Foundation

On behalf of our patients, I want to express our sincere appreciation to the Flora Bernice Smith Foundation for its donation of $17,000 to the Community General Foundation.

The grant helped purchase the new Hologic bone densitometer for the Wellspring Center at Community General Hospital.

Wellspring provides mammography services, including stereotactic biopsy. Wellspring also tests for osteoporosis -- thus, the new bone densitometer.

Over the years the Flora Bernice Smith Foundation has donated more than $147,000 to benefits patients at Community General. We are sincerely grateful for the donations that honor the memory of Mrs. Smith.

In the photo with me (and the ceremonial check) is Foundation trustee John E. Morrissey Jr., a past member of the Community General Board.

Our orthopedic growth

Today, I announced the start of construction on a new sixth-floor Center for Orthopedics, funded with $7.6 million from a New York State HEAL grant. The funds come from New York State, as a result of our voluntary compliance with the recommendations of the Berger Commission (Commission on Healthcare Facilities in the 21st Century).

The construction project will generate up to 150 jobs this year, and the finished center will help us respond to the growth in our orthopedics service. See the story in today's Post-Standard.

From 2005 to 2008, our orthopedic inpatient cases have grown by over 50%. Here are the numbers of inpatients, discharged from Community General Hospital over that period [1]:

2005- 1,236
2006 -1,346
2007 -1,777
2008 -1,882

Last year our hospital served orthopedic patients from 19 counties and from out-of-state as well.
As a result of our patient growth, the orthopedic patient care unit moved from 4 West to a larger 4 North three years ago. Next year it will relocate to the brand new Center for Orthopedics on both Six East & West.

The new Center will have:

▪ 36 private rooms that can flex up to 40 patients at high census.

▪ Decentralized nursing stations in three pods.

▪ All new spacious patient rooms with state-of-the-art beds that help prevent falls and facilitate skin care.

▪ An expanded physical therapy area.

▪ Modern electronics for electronic medical records (EMR), Computer Provider Order Entry (CPOE), and wireless service.

▪ A nurse call system with wireless phones to reduce ambient noise and connect patients directly with nurses.

▪ Design by King & King Architects, the same team that designed our award-winning Jim and DeDe Walsh Family Birth Center.

The rending shows a patient room in the new facility. Hueber-Breuer Construction is managing the build-out.

Many thanks go to the operating room orthopedic staff nurses for helping establish our excellent reputation. They are backed by great therapy and support teams.

And my special acknowledgment goes to our orthopedic surgeons whose skill and trust in our hospital and staff have helped build our growing regional reputation for outstanding care:

Spine Care
Thomas R. Haher, MD
Warren Wulff, MD
Richard Zogby, M.D.

Sports, General Orthopedic Services, &Joint Replacement
Todd C. Battaglia, MD
John J. Cambareri, MD
C. Perry Cooke III, MD
P. James Newman, MD
Joseph A. Smith, MD (past department chair, not currently in practice)

Hand & Upper Extremity
John F. Fatti, MD
Walter H. Short, MD

Joint Care & Surgery
Stephen P. Bogosian, MD (department chair)
Michael T. Clarke, MD
Michael Vella, MD

Foot & Ankle
Frederick R. Lemley, M.D.

[1] Sources of data: HANYS Market Expert, 2005-2007; Hospital financial services, 2009

For nurses

I couldn't do my job without nurses.

A hospital does not exist, except for nurses.

Nurses have the privilege of intimacy with patients and their families. They are with our patients 24/7...in the difficult times, through pain and fear, in joy and recovery.

Today Community General Hospital celebrates Nurses’ Day, a daylong event that includes receptions for nurses on each shift, starting in a few minutes.

From all of us who work at your side and who support you behind the scenes, thank you, nurses.

Swine flu?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has updated its instructions for the public, for health professionals, and for laboratories regarding the swine influenza A virus (H1N1) that has been identified in Mexico and in parts of Texas and California.

There is a story in today's New York Times about the possible swine flu infection of students at a school in Queens, NY. Some students were reportedly in Mexico recently.

Now is the time to remind ourselves about lessons learned from the SARS outbreak in 2003 -- just in case the N1H1 virus turns out to be highly contagious and an international threat.

On March 7, 2003, different SARS patients reported within hours of one another to different hospitals in Vancouver and Toronto, Canada. According to the subsequent report by a Canadian Commission, the health care personnel responded differently in each city. As I have written before:

Because the Vancouver hospital followed strict precautions, there was no SARS epidemic in British Columbia. In Toronto precautions were inconsistently used. As a result, 44 people died in Ontario and 375 became sick with SARS. 'Of the…people who contracted SARS in Ontario,' says the [Commission's] report, '72 percent were infected in a health care setting….[and] 45 percent were health care workers.' In Vancouver only one health care worker contracted SARS.

If standard precautions are not used consistently by health care workers, we put ourselves at risk. Worse, we become part of the chain of infection for others.

With a new strain of swine flu in the news, it seems a good time for all of us in health care to remind ourselves about the importance of following standard precautions 100% of the time.