Spring 2013 - Memorial Hospital of South Bend

Converging strengthsArea’s top vascular interventional specialists join MemorialFour highly trained interventional radiologists joined MemorialHospital in 2012, strengthening an already integrated systemof care for the treatment of vascular disease, cancer and otherconditions. Gerard Duprat, M.D., Thomas Fischbach, M.D.,Michael Hall, M.D., and Kevin Small, M.D., formed MemorialVascular Interventional Institute. They have used a combinationof medical expertise, highly detailed imaging and cutting-edgeminimally invasive surgery at Memorial to provide a high levelof care that offers less pain and scarring, fewer complicationsand faster recoveries. The four have worked for years atMemorial, regularly performing minimally invasive therapiesusing image guidance such as X-ray, ultrasound and CT scans.But now working exclusively at Memorial, the team hasenhanced and expanded its ability to provide an evenhigher level of specialized care.Premier Endovascular ProgramMemorial Vascular Interventional Institute conducts the mostendovascular repairs (minimally invasive surgery involving accessthrough a major blood vessel) of abdominal aortic aneurysmsof any group in the area. This highly successful program beginswith the physician-patient consultation, which allows patientsto ask questions and build a relationship with the specialist. Tohelp ensure each patient’s health continues to improve followingsurgery, the Institute established the area’s most comprehensiveinterventional radiology outpatient clinic. The dedicatedoutpatient clinic inside Memorial allows for consultations,follow-ups and advanced imaging. The strength of the programis buoyed by interventional radiology’s collaboration with otherspecialists, including radiation and medical oncologists, general/vascular surgeons, cardiothoracic surgeons, neurosurgeons,hospitalists and intensivists. Together, they provide coordinatedmultidisciplinary care, which greatly improves patient outcomes.Physicians from left:Gerard Duprat, M.D.;Kevin Small, M.D.;Michael Hall, M.D.;Thomas Fischbach, M.D.Bright Future for Patient CareMemorial leadership’s commitment to expanding lifesavingtechnologies that enable advanced care to be performedby interventional radiologists and other surgical specialistsat Memorial has converged in a dramatic way.This summer, Memorial will unveil two state-of-the-arthybrid operating rooms that will dramatically enhancethe delivery of care in the region. The hybrid surgicalsuites will allow for interventional radiologists and surgeonsto combine procedures for treatment of peripheral vasculardisease or aneurysm on the same day in the same place.No other hospital in the region has hybrid surgicalsuites. The hybrid operating suites will house the neurointerventionalbiplane angiography system that aids inthe diagnosis and treatment of stroke, brain aneurysms,brain and neck tumors and other neurological problems.This device, coupled with the excellent medical care,allows brain-related conditions and diseases to be treatedlocally. Neurocoiling is currently a procedure for treatingbrain aneurysms that requires patients be sent to Chicago,but that will change with the new hybrid suites.Robert Yount, M.D., of Memorial North Central Neurosurgery,says the new hybrid operating rooms will allow Memorialto attain a level of care previously available only in academicmedical centers.“New technology and specialized training will allow neurosurgeons,interventional radiologists and neurologiststo work together to bring the latest treatments and bestresults to patients with stroke, aneurysms and brainbleeds,” says Dr. Yount, a longtime neurosurgeon.Memorial’s Leighton Trauma Center will also be betterequipped to handle some unique traumacases. “The new surgical suites willprovide state-of-the-art technologyto critically injured patients rapidly,”says Scott Thomas, M.D., MemorialTrauma Services medical director.“By providing simultaneousemergency operativeinterventions andinterventional radiologyprocedures, we canhelp stop the bleedingand save lives.”Get Top-Notch Care, Close to Home20 PULSE | Memorial Hospital of South Bend • 574.647.6800