By Austin Holt
As the capital of the South,
Atlanta is home to some of the region’s (and indeed, the country’s)
finest healthcare providers. As leaders in their field, these health systems
regularly pioneer the newest procedures, technologies and healthcare strategies,
many of which ultimately become mainstream.
This issue, we examine three local hospitals to find out what they have been
doing to stay abreast of the newest and the best of what medicine has to offer.
Children’s Healthcare
A not-for-profit organization and one of the country’s top pediatric health
care systems, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta has recently set foot into
new fields of medicine, focusing on pediatric care.
Most recently, Children’s began construction on a new Health Sciences
Research Building on June 15. The new five-story building will encompass 200,000
square feet, with four stories above ground. A two-story working bridge will
connect the new building to the Emory-Children’s Center—a pediatric
outpatient center adjacent to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston
that houses the largest pediatric specialty group practice in Georgia. In addition
to pediatrics, the new research building will include investigations in cancer,
immunology and drug discovery.
“In breaking ground for this new building, we celebrate our long partnership
with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and the momentum of our growing
research collaborations,” says S. Wright Caughman, MD, Emory executive
vice president for health affairs and CEO of the Woodruff Health Sciences Center.
“This partnership will lead to continued medical advances that will benefit
pediatric and adult patients in Georgia and throughout the world and will help
Emory and Children’s reach the top ranks of pediatric research institutions.”
This addition comes on the heels of U.S. News and World Report’s ranking
of Children’s Healthcare among the “Best Children’s Hospitals”
for 2011-12. Recognized as one of the most comprehensive listings of its kind,
the report ranks hospitals that show excellence in pediatric specialty areas
including cancer, diabetes and endocrinology, gastroenterology, cardiology and
heart surgery, kidney, neonatology, neurology and neurosurgery, orthopedics,
pulmonology and urology. Children’s ranked in each of the 10 specialty
areas.
Emory Healthcare
The clinical arm of the Robert W. Woodruff Health Sciences Center of Emory University,
Emory Healthcare focuses on patient care, education of health professionals,
research addressing health and illness, and health policies for prevention and
treatment of disease.
A goal of ophthalmology researchers is to deliver medication to the back of
the eye in a selective and minimally invasive way. Recently, an Emory Eye Center
scientist and two fellow researchers have investigated opportunities and have
recently been awarded a U.S. patent for application of microneedle technology,
designed to do just that.
Because the microneedle apparatus is so much smaller than currently used intravitreal
needles, there may be less discomfort for the patients. Many patients with age-related
macular degeneration have injections on a regular basis. In the future, the
same microneedle technology may be used to inject medication directly into the
eye for many other ocular conditions, such as glaucoma, eliminating the need
to put drops in the eyes every day—a real chore for some patients.
“The beauty of this hollow-tubed microneedle is that it can serve as a
route for targeted drug delivery for retinal disease using an array of delivery
suspensions such as microbeads and microbubbles,” says Henry F. Edelhauser,
Emory Eye Center’s former director of research, who received that patent
along with Mark Prausnitz and Ninghao Jiang.
Also, the Emory University Hospital recently performed its first robotic pancreatectomy,
or pancreas removal, utilizing the revolutionary da Vinci Surgical System.
Dr. David Kooby, who to date has performed two such procedures, feels the precision
offered by robotic surgery can vastly improve patient outcomes with fewer complications.
“While we’re certainly excited by the possibilities of the robotic
technology,” he says. “Our hope is that we will be able to apply
the technology to even more complex minimally invasive procedures as we move
forward.”
Northside Hospital
Northside Hospital’s Forsyth campus is seeing new and frequent innovation
in cancer and cardiovascular research and care.
Recently, Northside was among 14 new sites chosen by the National Cancer Institute,
part of the National Institutes of Health, to join a national network of community
cancer centers offering expanded research opportunities and state-of-the-art
cancer care. Northside was the only new hospital added in the Southeastern United
States.
Now, the hospital has received recognition by the Commission on Cancer (CoC)
(of the American College of Surgeons), which has granted its Outstanding Achievement
Award to Northside Hospital’s Cancer Care Program. The Atlanta hospital
is one of a select group of 90 currently accredited and newly accredited cancer
programs across the United States – one of only two programs in Georgia.
Established in 2004, the CoC Outstanding Achievement Award is designed to recognize
cancer programs that strive for excellence in providing quality care to cancer
patients. The award is granted to facilities that demonstrate a Commendation
level of compliance with seven standards that represent six areas of cancer
program activity: cancer committee leadership, cancer data management, clinical
management, research, community outreach and quality improvement.
“We are so pleased to receive this national recognition from the Commission
on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons,” said Patti Owen, director
of oncology services at Northside Hospital. “This award exemplifies our
ongoing commitment to providing high quality, multidisciplinary cancer care
as a comprehensive, community hospital Cancer Care Program.”