Sharon Hospital, celebrated its new maternity center, new emergency department and expanded radiology department on May 8th. “Every aspect of this project enhances quality of care and creates a more convenient, modern setting for both our patients and staff” stated Charlie Therrien, President & CEO of Sharon Hospital. “Our expanded radiology department is now open and features new technology. The new emergency department opened for patient care on Thursday, May 17th” according to Therrien.

The new emergency department provides a more comfortable and confidential
environment for the efficient care and treatment of patients.

“We planned the ribbon cutting as part of National Hospital Week. The staff
celebrated the future of Sharon Hospital with our physicians, board members and with our community. Many community members attended and were able to see first-hand, our new state-of-the-art facilities” stated Jill Groody Musselman, Director of Marketing & Public Relations.

The multi-phase expansion project will improve Emergency Department Services, Women’s Services and Imaging Services offered at Sharon Hospital
with 34,000 square feet of new space. New technology & expanded facilities:

EMERGENCY:
> The new emergency department, an addition of 2,800 square feet of new space adjacent to the current ED, opens for patient care Thursday, May 17th ’07. Phase II, which consists of complete renovation of the existing emergency department, is slated to begin next week. Completion scheduled for late fall. The new ED emphasizes individualized patient care and confidentiality. It features state-of-the-art technology with private rooms. There is also a negative pressure isolation room, with a separate entrance from outside, to care for a contamination case should the need arise. A dedicated EMS room sits at the ambulance entrance of the new unit for all emergency medical personnel.

RADIOLOGY:
> The hospital’s 1,245 square foot addition onto the existing radiology department has been completed. The addition opened in early April and is home to Sharon Hospital’s new Vantage MRI with Pianissimo’s quiet technology & wide bore opening. Sharon Hospital is now offering patients the opportunity to undergo significantly more comfortable magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exams with the recent installation of the Vantage™ MRI system from Toshiba America Medical Systems. The Vantage is designed to improve the patient experience with new, exclusive patient comfort features. Highlights include the world’s shortest magnet and an ultra-short bore platform, which offers greater openness for claustrophobic patients by minimizing the feeling of being inserted into a tube-like machine. In addition, the system is equipped with Toshiba’s patented Pianissimo™ noise reduction technology, which effectively reduces scan noise by as much as 90 percent. “We are thrilled to have the new Vantage
system and its technology available to our patients. Over the years, patients have had concerns with claustrophobia and overall comfort during MRI scans.

Now, we can alleviate many of these issues,” said Carolyn Smith, Director of Radiology Services. “The short-bore design also makes the system feel more open, and the quietness of the Vantage during scanning is more calming for the patient. When the patient is more at ease, we have greater success with the scan and capture better images to help the physician make a confident diagnosis.”

In addition to its patient comfort features, the Vantage is a high-field MRI system that performs a wide variety of MRI exams including the latest state-of-the-art imaging techniques. For example, the system enables physicians to perform studies including; cardiac imaging, breast imaging and MRI guided breast biopsies and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA). Using an advanced MRA technique, physicians can simultaneously view images of vascular structures in the chest and abdomen without the use of contrast agents, which furthers patient comfort, reduces cost and allows the scan to be performed repeatedly, if needed.

“As medical technology becomes more and more sophisticated, we are able to image and evaluate more medical conditions at earlier stages than ever before. With early diagnosis, we can more effectively plan for a successful treatment,” commented Victor Gaines, M.D., Chief of Radiology at Sharon Hospital. “By expanding our capabilities to perform more advanced MRI studies and deliver outstanding clinical images, our physicians will have even more clinical data to improve their diagnosis and offer more advanced medical service to patients.”

In addition, a new advance in breast MRI analysis is now available in Women’s Imaging at Sharon Hospital. Underlining our commitment to providing the best in women’s healthcare, every breast MRI performed at Sharon Hospital is processed through CADstreamTM, a computer-aided-detection system (CAD). The CADstream system helps physicians read MR images more efficiently, provide more standardized breast MRI data and create enhanced reports for referring physicians and patients.

”Although our current methods of analyzing breast MR studies are effective, CADstream is significantly improving the ability of our hospital to provide better patient care by streamlining the interpretation of breast MRI”, stated Dr. Gaines, Chief of Radiology at Sharon Hospital.

Magnetic resonance imaging or MRI is a non-invasive imaging procedure that is used to analyze the inside of the breast. MRI does not use X-rays to make images; instead, MRI creates images through a combination of steady and changing magnetic fields and pulsing radio signals. Recent reports have shown that MRI can detect small breast lesions that are sometimes missed by mammography. MRI can also effectively image dense breasts, usually found in younger women, as well as breast implants.


MATERNITY:
> A new state-of-the-art obstetrics unit, which includes maternity services &
family-centered obstetrical care with private birthing suites is scheduled to open
in the next few weeks. This dedicated LDRP (labor, delivery, recovery, postpartum) unit will allow mothers to experience labor, delivery & recovery in the comfort of their private home-like suite.