HIGHLIGHTS
AMBULATORY ANESTHESIOLOGY
Duke Health Opens Duke Ambulatory Surgery Center Arringdon
As part of Duke Health’s strategy to expand ambulatory surgical services while maintaining safe, convenient and value-based care, the first of several planned new surgery centers, Duke Ambulatory Surgery Center Arringdon, opened in May 2021. The Ambulatory Anesthesiology Division, along with partners from surgery, nursing and throughout the health system, collaborated
DIVISIONAL NEWS
to build the first new independent center in more than 25 years. Located between
Durham and Wake counties, the new 35,000 square-foot center has
eight state-of-the-art surgical suites that provide patients with the latest surgical technology and anesthetic techniques, in a center with abundant spaces filled with natural light. The large operating rooms are designed to facilitate the growth of ambulatory surgery and implement new and innovative programs, such as same-day total knee and hip replacement. The lead anesthesiologist at Arringdon is Dr. Steve Melton. To prepare for Arringdon and the growth of ambulatory surgery, the division has been working diligently to organize efficient workflows, incorporate its expertise in regional anesthesia, and collaborate with health system partners to look for novel ways to improve patient outcome and experience. To help support this new endeavor, the Ambulatory Anesthesiology Division is pleased to welcome its newest members; Drs. Alex Cravanas and Michael Doden, who were specifically recruited for their experience in ambulatory anesthesia.
“The growth of ambulatory surgery continues to present exciting opportunities for our division. It has been extremely rewarding for me to be a part of the amazing Arringdon surgery center team working to ensure patients, in this new setting, receive the outstanding care they expect and deserve from Duke.” - Dr. Steve Melton Lead Arringdon Anesthesiologist
CARDIOTHORACIC ANESTHESIOLOGY
A Year of Clinical Firsts, Innovation and Leadership in Education and Research Duke’s Adult Cardiac Surgery program was awarded, for the first time, three simultaneous 3-star ratings by the Society of Thoracic Surgeons – for patient care and outcomes in the areas of coronary artery bypass grafting, aortic valve replacement, and mitral valve replacement/repair. The 3-star rating, which denotes the highest category of quality, places our program among the top 10 percent of all centers in the United States and Canada. Furthermore, the Duke team was the first to perform a donation after circulatory death (DCD) heart transplantation in the nation and the first center in the Southeastern US to complete 1,500 heart transplants. Dr. Sharon McCartney assumed leadership of the Duke University School of Medicine Acute Care Simulation course for medical students. And, an innovative approach to cardiothoracic (CT) anesthesia and critical care education, using the Sakai learning
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management system, has been spearheaded by Drs. Brandi Bottiger, Anne Cherry, Nazish Hashmi, Rebecca Klinger, Alina Nicoara, and Angela Pollak. On the national stage, Nicoara served as course director for the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists (SCA) Echo Week meeting. Dr. Kamrouz Ghadimi Dr. Kamrouz Ghadimi completed the landmark INSPIRE-FLO randomized controlled trial and presented the results at the annual meetings of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation and the SCA. And, Project Symphony – a digital transformation initiative aimed at integrating perioperative device data, predictive analytics, team communication, and clinician workflow - is being launched as a pilot in CT surgery patients, championed by Dr. Mihai Podgoreanu.