News from Columbia St. Mary's Foundation

Advanced Treatments and Technologies - NICU

Wed, 4 Mar 2009 00:00:00 EST

Advanced Treatments and Technologies – Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Imagine…
Your unborn baby needs to be delivered three-and-a-half months early.

When born, your baby is only one pound, six ounces and needs machines to help her breathe, eat and keep her body warm.

For more than 300 families in Southeastern Wisconsin each year, Columbia St. Mary’s Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) provides life-saving care to premature and sick infants. Facing issues ranging from jaundice to slow growth to decreased heart and lung function, the dedicated physicians and nurses of the NICU focus all of their attention on our smallest and most vulnerable patients.

Imagine…
You are a neonatologist caring for these delicate infants.

You’ve discovered that one of your patients has an artery in her heart that hasn’t closed properly and is causing strain on her heart and increasing the blood pressure to the arteries of her lungs.

This condition – called patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) – occurs most often in preterm babies. Efforts are made to encourage the artery to close naturally or with the use of medication, but for some infants surgery is required.

Imagine…
You are a neonatal surgeon who must perform surgery to close this artery in a heart the size of a walnut.

Your “operating room” is limited to the confines of an incubator.

Columbia St. Mary’s NICU realizes the crucial importance of having the most technologically advanced equipment available to ensure that every caregiver can provide the best and safest evaluation, diagnosis and treatment possible.

The Giraffe® Omnibed® is the most advanced incubator available today. The OmniBed features a rotating bed so the caregiver can position the bed according to height and comfort, an elevating hood to provide instant and uncompromised access to the baby, and an integrated weight scale and x-ray cassette tray, all that help ensure minimal disturbance to the baby, who needs as much rest as possible.

This past year, Columbia St. Mary’s Foundation funded a new Giraffe Omnibed for the NICU, advancing the care we provide and ensuring the highest quality of treatment for you and your baby, if the need arises.

Imagine…
Because of the advanced care and compassion provided at Columbia St. Mary’s, you finally get to bring your healthy baby home and can experience a lifetime full of watching her hopes and dreams become a reality.

To give online to any of the CSM Programs mentioned on this page, click here.

Exceptional Patient Experience - Animal-Assisted Therapy

Wed, 4 Feb 2009 00:00:00 EST

Exceptional Patient Experience – Animal-Assisted Therapy

“I wonder where we’re going today,” Louie thinks. “Swimming? Walking in the park?”

“Time to get out of the car, Louie,” Dave says. “We’re here.”

“Oh boy! Today is the day I get to work with Frank,” thinks Louie, an up-for-anything, nine-year-old golden retriever.

Frank is paralyzed from the waist down and is in therapy at Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital Ozaukee to regain strength, muscle control and to learn to walk again.

This past spring, Frank took a new step in his road to recovery when his therapist suggested he try Animal-Assisted Therapy – an innovative approach that helps brighten Frank’s spirits, facilitates patients reaching therapy goals more readily and makes therapy sessions seem to go by faster.

Louie helps Frank as he practices standing, balancing and beginning to walk again. Louie is glad to help out by having Frank bend down low or lean forward to brush his fur, pet his head or offer him treats, all while making Frank’s trunk and leg muscles work hard at getting stronger.

Louie was born to be a therapy dog. This golden-haired brute’s calm demeanor, complemented by years of training, make him a perfect match for Columbia St. Mary’s Animal-Assisted Therapy program.

Louie was helped by obedience training when he was just a mere pup and, in his vast nine years, has gone through much more intensive training to become a therapy dog. After a two-hour test for behavior, obedience and temperament, Louie was officially certified as a therapy dog.

Following that certificate, Louie and Dave, Louie’s handler, completed extensive one-on-one training with Columbia St. Mary’s program director and certified animal-assisted therapist.

“Animal-Assisted Therapy focuses on the needs of each patient by utilizing specially trained dogs not only to offer comfort but to help build muscle strength, develop movement control and even work on language and cognitive skills,” explains Laura Hey, occupational therapist and director of the Animal-Assisted Therapy program at Columbia St. Mary’s.

Although Frank is one of Louie’s favorite patients, Louie spreads his affection to other patients as well.

On a typical visit, Louie first stops in the waiting areas where family and friends await news about their loved ones and then visits patients in their hospital rooms or perhaps, in the chemotherapy infusion department. His presence brightens their spirits, helps alleviate stress and can ultimately help patients heal faster.

Animal-Assisted Therapy is funded by donors to Columbia St. Mary’s Foundation.

To give online to any of the CSM Programs mentioned on this page, click here.

Community-Based Chronic Disease Management Clinic

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 00:00:00 EST

Community Impact – Community-Based Chronic Disease Management Clinic

Blood pressure screening. Blood sugar testing. Smoking cessation assistance.

Not exactly what you’d expect to find when you visit a food pantry for groceries.

That is exactly what David Thomas and other visitors to the New Life Food Pantry will encounter any Wednesday that they come to pick up their monthly groceries.

When David arrived at the food pantry in October 2007, he was surprised to find the grand opening of the Community-Based Chronic Disease Management (CCDM) Clinic, now located within the food pantry. After agreeing to have his blood pressure taken, he was further surprised to hear that his dangerously high blood pressure put him at rist to have a stroke at any time.

David’s story doesn’t end there.

The clinic not only provides health screenings but also treatment and education on hypertension, diabetes, obesity and smoking cessation, as well as access to a social worker who can help determine whether a person qualifies for any government healthcare programs.

David immediately had “labs” drawn, was seen by a doctor and then received low-cost hypertension medication to begin lowering his blood pressure.

The CCDM Clinic – a collaborative partnership between Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital and the Medical College of Wisconsin – is taking a new, proactive approach to health care for uninsured people by locating at a site they already frequent.

“We’re taking a ‘window of opportunity’ approach,” explains Bill Solberg, director of community services for Columbia St. Mary’s.

The partners hope that the clinic will screen, educate and serve 1,500 impoverished people this year.

As the number of the uninsured people soars, it becomes increasingly difficult to find appropriate management of their chronic diseases, which require ongoing care. Anticipating expansion to at least three more clinics by June 2010, the partnership is providing much-needed services to underserved populations.

CCDM is made possible by a three-year grant from the Healthier Wisconsin Partnership Program (HWPP), an endowment program of the Medical College of Wisconsin secured through the CSM Foundation.

To give online to any of the CSM Programs mentioned on this page, click here.