Jersey City Medical Center (JCMC) opened a hybrid OR and new Neurointerventional Catheterization Laboratory, while Children’s Specialized Hospital (CSH), part of the system’s Child Health Network, unveiled the newly renovated Pediatric Long Term at CSH Mountainside.
JCMC hybrid operating room
The first of its kind in Hudson County, this facility allows multiple surgical teams to work in the operating room at the same time, using advanced technologies such as real-time imaging. This cutting-edge technology can speed up recovery time and reduce surgical complications for patients, according to the hospital.
“A hybrid OR not only contributes to better outcomes for typical procedures, but also allows for more complex procedures that were previously not possible, such as endovascular branching aorta repair,” said Dr. Michael Curi, director of vascular and endovascular services at the JCMC, in a May 23 statement.
“With this hybrid operating room, for example, patients with vascular injury can be treated with minimally invasive therapies, avoiding a larger incision and more blood loss, which leads to a faster recovery,” adds Curi, who also serves as chief of the Division of Vascular Surgery and associate professor of surgery at the New Jersey Medical School at Rutgers University.
The hybrid OR is also safer for patients because they can undergo complex procedures in one location, rather than moving between an OR and a cath lab.
In November 2022, the Hackensack Meridian JFK University Medical Center in Edison also unveiled a hybrid operating room that combines advanced imaging and surgical technologies.
JCMC Neuro Interventional Catheterization Laboratory
Announced May 22, the new state-of-the-art laboratory will improve the diagnosis and treatment of stroke and complex neurovascular disease among Hudson County residents, according to the medical center.
With this X-ray angiographic lab, clinicians can view detailed 3D submillimeter images of the brain and nervous system.
“The Neuro Interventional Cath Lab will significantly enhance our ability to diagnose and treat complex neurovascular diseases such as aneurysms and arteriovenous malformations, providing our patients with the most advanced care and best outcomes,” said Michael Prilutsky, Executive Vice President of RWJBarnabas Health and President of the JCMC and CEO.
Using the new technology, medical center staff will be able to perform minimally invasive procedures to treat medical conditions such as stroke, carotid artery disease and brain aneurysms.
The benefits of catheter-based interventions are shorter hospital stays, reduced recovery time and pain, and avoidance of brain and spinal trauma, according to the JCMC.
CSH Long Stay Pediatric Unit
Children’s Specialized Hospital unveiled the renovated Pediatric Long Term Unit at CSH Mountainside during a groundbreaking ceremony on May 18.
The upgrades were fully funded through the Transforming Lives 2.0 capital campaign. The Children’s Specialized Hospital Foundation has raised more than $44 million to fund expansion projects like this one over the past three years.
“The pediatric residents at our Mountainside long-term care center are children with medical complexities who require significant long-term support,” said CSH President and CEO Dr. Matthew McDonald III, in a May 25 statement. “Thanks to these reforms, we can expand access to the specialized, individualized care and comprehensive services these children and their families need.”
Renovations at the pediatric unit, located at 150 New Providence Road, include:
- Updated patient rooms and 14 new beds for a total of 64 beds (one of the new beds will be placed in a private room dedicated to Lisa and Peter McNamara and the Westfield-based Liam’s Room Foundation for children and families in need of palliative care inpatient pediatric Care)
- Family holidays and guest/sleeping rooms
- Therapy rooms, including a dedicated space for occupational therapy/activities of daily living (designed as a market and post office)
- virtual reality room
- Sensory spa/hairdresser
- Medical and dental examination rooms, updated nursing station and pharmacy
- Classroom
- renovated pool
“Much of what Children’s Specialized is today began in this Mountainside location over 130 years ago,” added Phil Salerno III, president and chief development officer of the CSH Foundation. “It is gratifying to see the appreciation of our donors and friends as we rededicate this site for a new generation of children.”
Pediatric long-term care and palliative care services at the Specialized Children’s Hospital provide care for children with complex medical conditions. Serving approximately 40,000 children and their families each year, CSH provides specialized medical care that focuses on quality of life, symptom management and alleviating the burden of illness for children and families.
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