RWJBarnabas Health facilities on innovation roll (slideshow)
Two RWJBarnabas Health facilities unveiled new offerings over the past week.
The Jersey City Medical Center (JCMC) opened a hybrid operating room and the new Neuro Interventional Cath Lab, while the Children’s Specialized Hospital (CSH), part of the system’s Children’s Health Network, unveiled the newly renovated Pediatric Long Term Care Unit 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 OR at the same time, using advanced technologies such as real-time imaging. This state-of-the-art technology can speed recovery time and reduce surgical complications for patients, according to the hospital.
“A hybrid operating room not only contributes to better outcomes for typical procedures, but also allows for more complex procedures not previously possible, such as branched endovascular aortic repair,” Dr. Michael Curi, director of vascular and endovascular services at JCMC, said in a May 23 statement.
“With this hybrid OR, 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 speedier recovery,” added Curi, who also serves as chief of the Division of Vascular Surgery and an associate professor of surgery at the New Jersey Medical School at Rutgers University.
The hybrid operating room is also safer for patients because they can undergo complex procedures in one location instead of moving between an operating room and catheterization lab.
In November 2022, Hackensack Meridian JFK University Medical Center in Edison also unveiled a hybrid operating room that combines advanced imaging and surgical technologies.
JCMC Neuro Interventional Cath Lab
Announced May 22, the new state-of-the-art lab will improve the diagnosis and treatment of stroke and complex neurovascular diseases among Hudson County residents, according to the medical center.
With this angiographic X-ray lab, physicians 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 improved outcomes,” said Michael Prilutsky, RWJBarnabas Health executive vice president and JCMC president and CEO.
Using the new technology, the medical center team will be able to perform minimally invasive procedures to treat clinical problems such as stroke, carotid artery disease and cerebral aneurysms.
The benefits of catheter-based interventions are shorter hospital stays, reduced recovery time and pain, and avoiding trauma to the brain and spine, according to JCMC.
CSH Pediatric Long Term Care Unit
The Children’s Specialized Hospital unveiled the renovated Pediatric Long Term Care Unit at CSH Mountainside during a May 18 ribbon-cutting ceremony.
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 such as this over the past three years.
“The pediatric residents at our Long Term Care facility in Mountainside are children with medical complexity who require significant long-term support,” CSH President and CEO Dr. Matthew McDonald III said in a May 25 statement. “Thanks to these renovations, we are able to expand access to the specialized, individualized care and comprehensive services these children and their families need.”
Renovations to the pediatric unit, located at 150 New Providence Road, include:
- Family break and visit/sleep rooms
- Therapy rooms, including a dedicated space for occupational/activities of daily living therapy (designed as a market and post office)
- Virtual reality room
- Sensory spa/hair salon
- Medical and dental examination rooms, an updated nurse’s station and pharmacy
- Classroom
- Renovated pool
“So much of what Children’s Specialized is today, started at this Mountainside location over 130 years ago,” added Phil Salerno III, president and chief development officer, CSH Foundation. “It is gratifying to see the appreciation of our donors and friends as we rededicate this site to a new generation of children.”
Pediatric long-term care and palliative care services at Children’s Specialized Hospital provide care for children with complex medical conditions. Serving nearly 40,000 children and their families each year, CSH provides specialized medical care that focuses on quality of life, symptom management and easing the burden of illness for children and families.