Ochsner Receives National Reaccreditations
New Orleans – The American College of Surgeons (ACoS) has given two national reaccreditations to the Ochsner Health System. A three-year accreditation by the Commission on Cancer was given to Ochsner’s Cancer Institute, and a three-year accreditation by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers was given to Ochsner’s Lieselotte Tansey Breast Center. As a CoC-accredited cancer center, Ochsner takes a multidisciplinary approach to treating cancer, meaning that many cancer specialists collaborate with treatment and in maintaining levels of excellence in comprehensive patient care. The Tansey Breast Center is the only NAPBC-accredited breast cancer program in New Orleans.
Lake Charles Memorial Hospital’s New Call System
Lake Charles – Lake Charles Memorial Hospital is giving patient care extra speed by installing the Responder 5 nurse call system. The Responder 5 uses a nurse’s first name and identification number to instantly connect patients with their caretaker. This nurse call system will eliminate the slow-moving communication chain of the bedside call button. Rather than asking the nurses’ station to help with personal issues, patients can now directly ask questions to the nurse who knows them best. With the Responder 5, nurses at LCMH will now know more efficiently which patient is calling, if rooms are clean, and if the patient is at risk of other problems.
St. James Parish Hospital’s Updates
Lutcher – St. James Parish Hospital has added new spaces, services and technology between 2012-2013, including a state-of-the-art medical plaza to house clinics and a more advanced education room, a Progressive Care Unit to offer advanced care to nontraditional patients and a private gym in the rehab department. Surgery and wound care are just two of the many new services offered at the specialty clinics, The Poche Medical Clinic and the Lutcher Family Clinic. New technologies at the hospital include a digital portable ultrasound, stress unit, and EKG machine, along with the technology that will offer local microbiology.
Cancer-fighting Technology at Willis-Knighton
Shreveport – Though it seems almost like science fiction, a revolutionary proton therapy to eradicate cancer is well on its way to real-life application at Willis-Knighton Health System. Called a cyclotron, the equipment arrived from Houston via Belgium over the summer and was set up in a massive concrete vault inside the WK Proton Therapy Center. The cyclotron is the engine of the proton therapy system, which accelerates protons to two-thirds the speed of light in order to destroy cancer tumor cells. The cyclotron comes in two main pieces, weighing a total of 220 tons. The vault in which the cyclotron will be housed contains 525 tons of reinforcing steel and concrete walls and ceiling up to 10 feet thick. The remaining elements of the equipment should be installed this fall. Proton therapy is considered the most advanced and targeted cancer treatment. Protons deposit the majority of their radiation directly within the tumor, while sparing the healthy surrounding tissue. Final completion of the WK Proton Therapy Center is scheduled for the end of 2013, with patients being treated in late 2014.
