Part of Jefferson's 2010 initiative, the new 4 West Intensive Care Unit (ICU) will provide 17 new beds and two isolation rooms. Features include expanded work areas with computers for all staff, a large family waiting area with a separate room for family meetings and a dedicated pharmacy.

Jefferson's new Unit is scheduled to open for patients today and will feature:

• Nurse charting areas adjacent to each patient room with visibility into the room
• Rooms equipped with eglass, latitude arms, patient lifts and dialysis hookups
• Expanded work areas with computers for all staff
• A large family waiting area with a separate room for family meetings
• A dedicated pharmacy with glove box area for medication preparation (Hours are Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.; Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Note: 5 Gibbon will remain a 24-hour pharmacy.)

The phone number for the Unit is 215-955-4991.

The new ICU is part of Jefferson's 2010 project, a three-year, $137-million initiative designed to:

Jefferson’s strides in reducing emergency department (ED) overcrowding were cited in a Dec. 24 Philadelphia Inquirer article. In 2009, we were able to reduce diversions - when a hospital is not accepting ambulance traffic because the emergency room is so full - by 28 percent. The improvements are the result of our participation in the Urgent Matters network.

The Urgent Matters team at Jefferson strives to find, develop and deliver strategies that improve ED overcrowding and patient flow.

Launched approximately 12 months ago, Urgent Matters is a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded learning network of just six hospitals across the country working collaboratively to implement rigorous performance measures, assess existing operations and develop strategies to improve ED throughput and output.

The results of the groundbreaking work being undertaken by our Urgent Matters team will help hospitals across the country tackle the difficult issue of ED overcrowding, as well as significantly advance the field of quality improvement performance measurement for emergency departments.

Read "Phila. ERs seek solutions to crowding" to learn more about Jefferson's strategies to reduce ER overcrowding.

Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience were among five area hospitals honored last month for “achieving a perfect record for working with Gift of Life to identify potential organ donors.”

Delaware Valley Healthcare Council (DVHC) of the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania announced the recognition at an annual breakfast event this fall, where two other area hospitals received the Gift of Life Award.

According to a news release from the DVHC, the need for more donors continues to be an urgent one. Today, there are nearly 6,000 patients in this region awaiting the gift of a life-saving organ transplant, joining the 103,000 people nationwide. Learn more at the Gift of Life website.

Learn more about the Jefferson Division of Transplantation.
 

Warren R. Maley, MD, recently joined the Department of Surgery at Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals and will serve as Director of the Live Donor Liver Transplant Program. He has also been named Associate Professor of Surgery at Jefferson Medical College. Dr. Maley has performed extensive research in the fields of Liver Transplantation and Surgical Therapy to improve patient safety and care.

Dr. Maley has an extensive list of published research studies in such leading journals as Transplant Proceedings, Transplantation, Liver Transplantation and Annals of Surgery; and has authored or co-authored eight book chapters.

The first Liver Transplant in the Delaware Valley was performed at Jefferson and our Liver Transplantation Program is the longest continuously active liver transplantation program in the area. Learn more about the Division of Transplantation at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.

We are pleased to announce that Jefferson has recently received Advanced Certification from The Joint Commission in:

• Stroke (Primary Stroke Center)
• Ventricular Assist Device

And Certification in:

• Joint Replacement - Hip
• Joint Replacement - Knee

Jefferson has also received a renewal of its designation as a Chest Pain Center from The Society of Chest Pain Centers. To earn this designation, the Chest Pain Center demonstrated expertise in eight key areas:

• Emergency Department integration with the Emergency Medical System
• Emergency assessment of patients with symptoms of possible Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) (timely diagnosis and treatment of ACS)
• Assessment of patients with low risk for ACS and no assignable cause for their symptoms
• Process improvement
• Personnel, competencies, and training
• Organizational structure and commitment
• Functional facility design 
• Community outreach

Jefferson Hospital held a celebration earlier this month to commemorate the first liver transplant performed in the region. Twenty-five years after the procedure was performed here at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, the recipient of the transplant remains healthy and active, as does Jefferson’s Liver Transplantation Program.

Today, Jefferson’s is not only the longest continuously active liver transplantation program in the area but also one of the fastest growing, having performed transplants in more than half the patients on our waiting list in the last three years. Jefferson has developed innovative therapies to improve the quality of life for our liver transplant patients, including new anti-rejection protocols.

In addition, Jefferson uses a bloodless technique for performing major liver resection that was co-developed by Jefferson surgeon Cataldo Doria, MD, PhD and former colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center – Italy.

Learn more about the Liver Transplantation Program, including its multidisciplinary nature and the future launch of a Living Donor arm of our Liver Transplantation Program.

See the story about our transplantation anniversary and transplant recipient Michael Donahue on KYW-1060’s website.

Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals, ranked as one of America’s best hospitals, has earned the prestigious Magnet designation awarded for nursing excellence from the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s (ANCC) Magnet Recognition Program®. ANCC is a subsidiary of the American Nurses Association.

Less than five percent of hospitals in the US have achieved Magnet status which recognizes superior patient care, nursing excellence and innovations in professional nursing practice.

Highly regarded as the “gold standard” of nursing excellence, Magnet designation provides a benchmark by which consumers and patients can measure the quality of care they can expect to receive at a hospital.  Magnet-designated hospitals are associated with improved patient care outcomes as well as attracting top notch physicians, nurses and healthcare professionals.

“Jefferson is extremely proud of the high caliber of our nurses and the exceptional care they provide to patients,” remarked Mary Ann McGinley, PhD, RN, senior vice president of patient care services and chief nursing officer. “Magnet status validates what we already know and enhances our reputation as a center of excellence.”

Fatty liver disease is running rampant in the American adult population, says Victor J. Navarro, MD, medical director of Liver Transplantation at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.

Dr. Navarro is one of three dedicated hepatologists in Jefferson’s Liver Disease and Transplantation Program, in which Jefferson’s Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and Division of Transplantation Surgery in the Department of Surgery collaborate.

“High fat in the liver can cause inflammation, perhaps leading to cirrhosis, liver scarring, cancer and, ultimately, liver failure,” notes Dr. Navarro, who is also clinical associate professor of Medicine at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University.

“Treatment focuses on factors that seem to lead to fatty liver – including obesity and diabetes. But we’re also researching new treatments, a better understanding of the cause and a better way to identify patients at risk for fatty liver and livers disease.

Staying in touch with loved ones and friends while also managing a
healthcare challenge can be difficult. But staying connected is a
crucial component to getting, and staying well—for both patients and
caregivers. Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals understands these
obstacles, and we’re prepared to help.

Now you can stay
connected with family, friends and colleagues before, during and after
hospitalization through a CarePages website. CarePages provides free,
private websites that make it easy to:

• Update family, friends and even colleagues all at once
• Share photos
• Collect supporting messages from loved ones and friends
• Learn more about healthcare issues
• Connect to others with similar concerns

To learn more visit http://www.jeffersonhospital.org/carepages.

Over the past 20 years, kidney transplantation has gone from experimental procedure to recommended treatment for people with end-stage kidney disease. Though it’s not a cure, transplantation enables a patient to resume a healthier, independent lifestyle without the need for dialysis.

Transplanted kidneys can come from two sources – deceased organ donors and living donors.

“We’re very proud that we have tremendous outcomes with both kinds of transplants,” says George Francos, M.D., medical director, Pancreas and Kidney Transplantation Programs, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. “The chance for a successful kidney transplant at one year is 95 percent from a living donor and about 90 percent from a deceased donor. While both are successful, long-term success with a living-donor kidney averages 15 to 20 years, compared with 7 to 10 years for a deceased-donor kidney.”

Watch an informative video to learn more about what to expect from kidney transplantation at Jefferson.