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What's NEW
New physicians in town
To help make medical care more
available, we've partnered with
the medical staff to recruit 29 new
physicians to our community during
the past 18 months. They include
family medicine, rheumatology,
gastroenterology, physical medicine
and rehabilitation, pulmonology,
cardiology, psychiatry, orthopedic
surgery, ophthalmology, internal
medicine, urgent care and emergency
medicine, neurosurgery and
obstetrics. To find a physician
who is accepting new patients,
go to www.salemhospital.org
and click on "Local Doctors."
Improvements can save lives
A collaborative healthcare improvement
project is working to
save the lives of heart-attack victims
in Marion and Polk counties. The
collaborative effort includes Salem
Hospital's emergency staff,
catheterization lab, performance
improvement department, and local
cardiologists and emergency
physicians.
The goal is to have 100 percent of all heart-attack patients treated in the cath lab with balloon angioplasty (used to open clogged arteries) within 90 minutes of arrival in the ER.
Interventions used in the project include swiftly identifying heartattack patients, prompt EKGs and simultaneously activating the cath lab with the cardiologist and emergency physician.
Now, 84 percent of all cases are within the national goal, and the staff is devising ways to achieve 100 percent.
Neonatal intensive
care at Salem
Hospital
Salem Hospital's
Special Care Nursery
has changed its name
to Neonatal Intensive Care
Unit. The name change better
refl ects the care provided in the unit.
In 2003, the unit began moving to
a higher level of newborn care, by
partnering with neonatologists from
NW Newborn Specialists, hiring
and training specialty staff, and
purchasing equipment specifi cally for
premature and sick babies. The NICU
has progressed from taking babies at
34 weeks gestation to now accepting
babies as young as 26 weeks.
Improvements in Urgent Care
Our relocated Urgent Care facility is
more comfortable, and new digital
X-ray imaging can provide results
more quickly. A combination of
changes has resulted in a significant
reduction in waiting times.
Urgent Care may be an alternative to the ER, providing less expensive treatment of minor illnesses and injuries, with reduced wait times.
Urgent Care is located at 1002
Bellevue St. SE, Salem. Open
from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven
days a week.
Genetic research opt-out
On July 1, a new Oregon law
concerning genetic research took
effect. Now, when you
register for hospital
services, you can opt out
of having your biological
specimen, or clinical
information, used for
coded genetic research now
or in the future. Your registrar
will tell you how. Questions? Go to
www.oregongenetics.org.
State-of-the-art imaging
This month, doctors at Salem
Hospital will begin using a new
digital imaging system to see
extremely detailed, real-time images.
The 64-channel multi-detector
CT scanner allows physicians
to identify a variety of medical
conditions, including cardiovascular
and neurological diseases, cancer
and other conditions, without
requiring major surgery.
With more than 10 times the range of conventional technology, the 64-channel multi-detector CT scanner provides unprecedented views of hard-to-see vessels and anatomy, and the ability to recreate 3D images of body structure. The exam is also quicker, which can save lives of trauma patients and reduce the amount of radiation and contrast dye needed for an exam.
We are proud to be one of the few hospitals in the country to provide this new technology.
