E’town Hospital to offer chemo treatments

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October 26, 2009

By JEFF MEYERS The Press Republican Mon Oct 26, 2009, 11:14 AM EDT

ELIZABETHTOWN — Cancer patients in eastern Essex County who have had to travel up to an hour for their regular chemotherapy treatments now have a much more convenient option.

Elizabethtown Community Hospital (ECH) is opening a new chemotherapy center where patients can receive a wide range of hematology and oncology services.

The facility also includes state-of-the-art communications that allow patients to meet live via high-digital monitors with Plattsburgh oncologist Dr. Jan Duus.

“This service will offer so much for patients, who will no longer have to travel for their treatments, said Cecile Lawlor, a nurse practitioner and certified oncology nurse recently hired by the hospital to oversee activities in the chemo center. “It will be an incredible relief to them and to their families.”

UPDATED EQUIPMENT

Public surveys in the local community conducted by E’town Community Hospital have consistently shown a strong need for chemotherapy and other hematology services such as blood transfusions.

“It’s important to us that our hospital is responsive to those needs of our friends and neighbors in Essex County,” said Bonnie Rata, chief nursing officer for the hospital.

She was instrumental in bringing tele-medicine to Elizabethtown.

“We feel that patients should receive care as close to home as possible.”

Other oncology services have been available to those patients for some time now.

“Dr. Duus has been providing an oncology clinic at Elizabethtown twice a month,” said Jane Hooper, public-relations director for the hospital. “It’s nice that he has been able to see patients in Elizabethtown, but until now an option for receiving chemotherapy locally did not exist.”

The chemo room has two chairs, with a third available in an adjacent room if needed. The hospital has purchased updated infusion equipment to provide the safest and most efficient method for chemotherapy and blood-related infusions.

Lawlor has already seen several patients for infusion treatments, and the first chemo patient is scheduled for later this week.

“It’s an exciting time for us,” said Lawlor, who obtained her M.S. in nursing with a specialty as adult nurse practitioner from Texas Health Sciences Center. “I feel privileged to get this important program up and running and to help patients with their treatments.”

TELE-MEDICINE

What adds a further sense of excitement for the program is the high-quality tele-medicine component that allows patients to visit with Duus when needed.

“If you have any concerns (during procedures), Dr. Duus will talk to you,” Lawlor said. “You will have an opportunity to schedule a visit with him through tele-medicine.”

The high-resolution equipment will allow the physician to view a patient and pinpoint any potential problems. Additional technologies can even offer the doctor an opportunity to listen to a person’s heart or lungs through the electronic connection.

“These are high-def units,” said Brett Sicola, the information-support-systems specialist for Elizabethtown. “We already had a nice high-speed connection, but after tomorrow (Oct. 21), those capabilities will be doubled.”

Additional fiber-optic improvements will add an even stronger high-speed connection early next year, he added.

Also, doctors at the other end of the connection will have the capability to remotely control the camera angle at Elizabethtown, allowing them to physically exam patients during the connection.

“The only thing the doctor can’t do is palpate (or check for lumps or other abnormalities within the patient’s body),” Lawlor said.

As a nurse practitioner, she also has the training to do physical exams, assess patients and order whatever tests may be needed.

Lawlor gained chemotherapy experience at Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, where she worked with patients who had undergone bone-marrow transplants.

Most recently, she worked at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City before accepting the position at Elizabethtown.

All electronic communication between CVPH Medical Center in Plattsburgh or any other health-care facility will be done through a closed system and not on the Internet, ensuring complete security at all times.

The system will also have the capability to expand for other medical needs in the future.

“ECH has incredible doctors, nurses and clinicians who possess exceptional knowledge and skill,” Rata said. “Combining those assets with outstanding technological capabilities allows us to provide excellent care to our chemotherapy patients.”

E-mail Jeff Meyers at:

jmeyers@pressrepublican.com