Hospital Updates

Q IHospitals

WATCHMAN FLX offers new hope for more patients with AFib

More than 90% of blood clots that cause stroke in AFib originate in the left atrial appendage. Bloodthinning medications help reduce the risk of stroke but also increase the risk of bleeding. The first-generation WATCHMAN device, now nearly 15 years old, is an implantable device to close off the appendage. The second-generation WATCHMAN FLX provides an even better option for more patients with non-valvular AFib.

In January, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare (MLH) became the first provider in the region to use WATCHMAN FLX. Mehul Patel, MD, director of Structural Heart Disease and Hybrid Lab with MLH, along with Sutherland Cardiology Clinic’s medical team, performed the procedure. Patel, who has implanted more than 400 WATCHMAN devices, said the FLX offers “better safety, better conformability and better sealing” meaning more patients with various anatomies are eligible.

In a minimally invasive procedure, the WATCHMAN device is implanted through a small needle puncture in the groin area and catheter guided into the patient’s heart. The umbrella-like device, about the size of a quarter, seals off the left atrial appendage to prevent stroke. With a one-night hospital stay, some suitable patients go home on the same day. Within 45 days, most patients are able to stop blood-thinning medications.

Focused on the future of medicine, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare is committed to providing patients the latest cutting-edge technology to help improve their lives.

Baptist Cancer Center is one of the only centers within a 3-4-hour radius to offer intraoperative radiation therapy for early-stage breast cancer patients.

The procedure, called intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT), delivers a concentrated dose of radiation during surgery to remove a tumor in the breast, reducing the need for weeks of breast cancer radiation. . Dr. Alyssa Throckmorton, breast surgeon and medical director for Baptist’s multidisciplinary breast cancer program, said IORT helps reduce side effects, such as skin changes from whole breast radiation or risk of infection from partial breast radiation devices. IORT also eliminates the need for patients to make multiple trips to the hospital for weeks of radiation treatment.

“Patients can have their breast cancer removed, receive a single dose of radiation and be finished with all their local therapy in a single setting,” said Throckmorton.

Throckmorton performed three of the first four IORT procedures at Baptist Memorial Hospital for Women, and Dr. Lindi Vanderwalde performed the other procedure. In all cases, Dr. Angela Wortham, radiation oncologist, delivered the radiation once the area was prepped by the surgeon.

Q I Hospitals

Regional One Health and West Cancer Center partner to provide cancer care at Midtown location

Now called Regional One Health Cancer Center, the facility offers an exceptional level of care for cancer and benign blood disorders from an experienced team of medical, surgical and gynecological oncologists. Regional One Health and West Cancer Center and Research Institute have partnered to bring exciting changes to the Midtown cancer center. The West Cancer Center Midtown location has transitioned to a hospital outpatient department of Regional One Health. The new Regional One Health Cancer Center, located at 1588 Union Avenue, will continue to provide the exceptional level of care the patients and community have experienced at this location under West Cancer Center. Patients at this location will continue to see the same providers through an agreement between Regional One Health and West Cancer Center.

“The launch of the Regional One Health Cancer Center marks the culmination of several months of work to ensure continued access to high quality oncology services in the midtown area,” said Reginald Coopwood, MD, president and CEO of Regional One Health. “Like Regional One Health, West Cancer Center has a long tradition of providing compassionate care and exceptional services to patients. Their expertise is invaluable to us, and we are proud to partner with them to provide care to individuals in this community faced with cancer.”

West Cancer Center’s CEO, Mitch Graves, stated, ”West is proud to join Regional One Health in expanding cancer care in the core of our community. It is nice to enter into a relationship where both entities strive to exceed in clinical excellence, patient centric care and access.”

Saint Francis Hospital-Bartlett received an “A” grade in the spring 2021 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade

The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is, a national distinction recognizing the hospital’s achievements protecting patients from errors, injuries, accidents, and infections. The Leapfrog Group is an independent national watchdog organization committed to health care quality and safety. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade assigns an “A,” “B,” “C,” “D,” or “F” grade to all general hospitals across the country and is updated every six months. It is the only hospital ratings program based exclusively on hospitals’ prevention of medical errors and other harms to patients in their care.

“This A-rating from The Leapfrog Group is a testament to the exceptional care being provided at our hospital,” said Chris Locke, Saint Francis Hospital-Bartlett CEO. “Our continued excellence is made possible by our talented and dedicated physicians and staff. Each member of the Saint Francis Hospital-Bartlett team plays a key role in our ability to provide award-winning medical services in a safe and caring environment.”

“An ‘A’ safety grade is an elite designation that your community should be proud of,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “The past year has been extraordinarily difficult for hospitals, but Saint Francis Hospital-Bartlett shows us it is possible to keep a laser focus on patients and their safety, no matter what it takes.”

Developed under the guidance of a national Expert Panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses up to 27 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to more than 2,700 U.S. acute-care hospitals twice per year. The Hospital Safety Grade’s methodology is peer-reviewed and fully transparent.