LifeNotes | Autumn 2018
Thomas Miner, MD, Has Performed HIPEC Procedure More Than 100 TimesThomas Miner, MD, chief of surgical oncology at Rhode Island Hospital, is an expert in gastric cancer surgery and has performed the HIPEC technique more than a hundred times. He was recently featured in a television news report discussing the use of HIPEC on a patient with ovarian cancer. Read the story |
Promising Chemotherapy for Ovarian Cancer
The Brown University Health Cancer Institute (LCI) offers HIPEC to treat primary and metastatic abdominal cancers. Hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) is an innovative surgical technique that is more effective than a traditional approach to treat women with ovarian cancer.
A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine demonstrates that using HIPEC is superior to using surgery combined with traditional chemotherapy before or after surgery and can significantly extend survival for patients diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer.
During the HIPEC procedure, highly concentrated, heated chemotherapy is delivered directly into the abdomen. Benefits include:
- Greater effectiveness in killing cancer cells and tumors
- Deeper penetration and better absorption of the chemotherapy from the heating process
- Fewer side effects than traditional chemotherapy
- Less bodily exposure to chemotherapy
For more information or to refer a patient, please call 1-844-222-2881.
Oncology Rehab Therapies Help Restore Independence and Quality of Life
Brown University Health Rehabilitation Services offers therapies specifically for patients in cancer treatment, with the goal of restoring their independence, quality of life, and the highest level of functioning possible.
Oncology rehab addresses the problems that cancer patients often experience as a result of the disease or its treatment, such as fatigue and weakness, stiffness, loss of balance, peripheral neuropathy, and difficulty with daily activities, including swallowing.
Patients are evaluated, and individualized treatment plans are developed specifically for each.
The Brown University Health Cardiovascular InstituteThe Brown University Health Cardiovascular Institute (LCVI) at Rhode Island, The Miriam and Newport hospitals provides the highest level of diagnostic, interventional, surgical and rehabilitative cardiac care 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Learn More |
LCVI Offers WATCHMAN for Stroke Prevention in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation
The Brown University Health Cardiovascular Institute (LCVI) is one of only two facilities in the region to offer the WATCHMAN left atrial appendage occlusion device for the prevention of thromboembolic stroke. The WATCHMAN is a clinically proven alternative to long-term anticoagulation medication and is the only FDA-approved device for stroke reduction.
Since LCVI began its WATCHMAN program in 2017, it has treated 70 patients; 69 were able to discontinue anticoagulation medication at 45 days, and one within six months.
Patients who may be candidates must have:
- Non-valvular atrial fibrillation
- An increased risk for stroke
- Been prescribed short-term warfarin therapy (45 days)
- An appropriate reason to seek a non-pharmacological alternative
Other state-of-the-art therapies offered at LCVI’s arrhythmia services include HIS bundle pacing, leadless pacemaker implantation, subcutaneous ICD implantation, and advanced therapies for ablation of atrial fibrillation, including convergent epicardial-endocardium ablation and spatial-temporal-guided ablation. LCVI is the only center in the region performing spatial-temporal-guided ablation for patients with persistent atrial fibrillation.
To refer a patient, please call 401-444-8712.
LCVI Offers Only Program to Reverse Progression of Coronary Heart Disease
The Brown University Health Cardiovascular Institute (LCVI) now offers the only lifestyle medicine program proven in randomized controlled clinical trials to reverse the progression of coronary heart disease. The Dean Ornish Intensive Cardiac Rehab Program improves health and reduces cardiac risk in patients with cardiac disease by:
- Lowering LDL cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar
- Decreasing frequency and severity of angina
- Reducing cardiac events
- Reducing body weight
- Decreasing depression
- Decreasing the need for medications
- Lowering chances of requiring future surgery
Almost 90 percent of program participants still follow it a year later. In contrast, only 30 to 50 percent of patients prescribed cholesterol-lowering drugs still take them after six months.
Classes meet twice a week for nine weeks at LCVI in East Greenwich. To refer a patient, please call 401-793-5810.
Bradley Learning ExchangeThe Bradley Learning Exchange, a department of Bradley Hospital, provides a variety of opportunities to enhance the skills and knowledge of individuals who work in the diverse fields of human services. Learn more |
Suicide Prevention Training for Main Street
The Bradley Learning Exchange now offers training on recognizing and preventing suicide in individuals of all ages. The next training, titled Suicide: Screening, Prevention, and Response, will be held on Friday, December 7, from 8 to 11 a.m.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, suicide is a leading cause of death in our country—resulting in the death of nearly 45,000 Americans age 10 or older in 2016. The first step in effective suicide prevention is to identify individuals who need help. Participants will learn about risk factors, warning signs, myths, facts, and local resources.
Trainings are held at Bradley Learning Exchange, One Catamore Boulevard, East Providence. For more information, contact Scott Sylvester at 401-606-5754 or [email protected].
Wrist Replacement: Pain Relief, Better Function
For patients with crippling pain and disability due to rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis, total wrist replacement has been highly successful in relieving pain and improving wrist function. Patients usually regain a range of motion of 60 to 70 degrees, a functional arc considered adequate to carry out all activities of daily living.
Internationally known hand surgeon Arnold-Peter Weiss, MD, of the Brown University Health Orthopedics Institute, is one of only a few surgeons in the region who perform total wrist replacement.
He is a professor of orthopaedics at the Alpert Medical School and specializes in hand and wrist reconstruction and wrist joint replacement surgery. Dr. Weiss holds 13 United States patents for widely used medical devices.
To refer a patient to Dr. Weiss, please call 401-444-4800.
Personal Stories Enhance Nurses' Care to Ostomy Center PatientsMary Cabral, CNP, once had an ostomy for many months. Erin DellGrotta, RN, helped her mother with her ostomy and saw how she wouldn’t let it slow down her athletic lifestyle. Read the story |
New Ostomy Center at The Miriam Hospital
The Miriam Hospital opened a new Ostomy Center, the only one in the region dedicated exclusively to providing ostomy care.
With individualized care, support, and guidance to new or long-time ostomy patients, the level of specialization at the Ostomy Center has no equal in our area.
The center is located in the Fain Building and offers counseling and education, and it is committed to assisting patients, families, and caregivers during the pre-surgery and post-surgery periods, as well as whenever a patient’s ostomy or surrounding skin requires attention.
To refer a patient, please call 401-793-2930.
New Center Offers Expert Concussion Care
Emergency departments report increases in patients presenting with concussion over the last decade, and we know the effects of concussion are not always minor. The Brown University Health Concussion Care Center treats both pediatric and adult patients who have concussions or post-concussion syndrome.
Center staff work as part of a comprehensive team comprising a physiatrist fellowship trained in brain injury, an advanced practice RN trained in pediatric concussion management, and licensed physical, occupational, and speech therapists trained in concussion management.
They collaborate with specialists, including neurosurgeons, neurologists, neuropsychologists, school nurses, athletic trainers, and others to provide comprehensive concussion care.
To refer a patient, please call 401-606-4150.
Novel Treatment Lessens Migraine Pain
Interventional radiologists at Newport Hospital now offer a safe, less invasive treatment to help patients suffering from migraine and other types of headache. The sphenopalatine ganglion block procedure lessens the severity and frequency of migraine headaches by providing additional relief as a supplement to medication or Botox treatment.
Jason Vachon, MD, and Joseph Farnam, MD, perform the procedure, in which a thin, flexible catheter is placed into each nostril to reach the sphenopalatine ganglion behind the nose. Contrast medium is administered and fluoroscopy is used to guide the catheter into place. Lidocaine solution is then moved through the catheter and allowed to pool over the nerve group to block the pain signals. The effect lasts one to two months, but the procedure can be repeated as often as necessary.
Patients are often able to reduce the amount of medication they take and experience less pain. To refer a patient, call 401-845-1350.
Increasing Capacity in Newport Hospital ED
In July, Newport Hospital began construction on the expansion of its emergency department. When completed, the ED will have a total of 29 beds, including a four-bed behavioral health pod to address an increasing volume of behavioral health patients.
Built nearly 20 years ago, the current ED sees more than 33,000 patients annually – almost 50 percent more than the number planned for. The new ED will also have two additional triage bays, a clinical results lounge for patients awaiting test results, and other enhancements for patients and staff. Completion of the ED is scheduled for fall of 2019.
Center for Weight and WellnessThe Brown University Health Center for Weight and Wellness offers treatment for moderately to severely overweight adults at its locations in Providence and East Greenwich. For more information, call 401-793-8790 Learn more |
Center for Weight and Wellness Helps Overweight Teens
A new teen weight and wellness program —Lighten Up—is designed specifically to help moderately to severely overweight teens (ages 15 to 18) achieve a healthy weight , develop life-long habits of healthful eating and exercise, and prevent or reverse development of obesity-related diseases.
The program is offered at 1377 South County Trail, Unit 1, in East Greenwich by providers who have been trusted for more than 30 years to help patients achieve long-term weight loss. Treatment plans address patients’ medical, behavioral, nutritional and exercise needs, tailored to support each patient’s unique goals.
To refer a teen, call 401-793-8790.
Center for Weight and Wellness Opens Weight Maintenance Program to All
The Masters Program for Weight Maintenance is now open to all the center’s participants who successfully complete their treatment program, as well as anyone who has lost weight and needs support for long-term weight management.
Focusing on teaching specialized skills to maintain weight loss, the program also offers unlimited access to the center’s dietitians, exercise physiologists, and health educators.
Brown University Health Recovery CenterOur center offers patients a multidisciplinary, evidence-based, recovery-oriented program that meets the full spectrum of medical and social needs of individuals who have opioid use disorders. Learn more |
Medication-Assisted Treatment for Lasting Recovery from Opioid Use Disorder
The Brown University Health Recovery Center offers medication-assisted treatment to reduce opioid misuse and relapse.
The treatment approach also includes other psychosocial support that may include cognitive-behavioral therapy, relapse prevention, motivational interviewing, dialectical behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, and mindfulness-based interventions.
Therapy helps guide important cognitive, behavioral, and lifestyle changes that enable individuals to maintain their recovery. The Brown University Health Recovery Center welcomes patients who are new to treatment, have recently completed inpatient detoxification, or want to transition from a methadone program.
Referrals
For information or to make a referral, please call 401-606-8530. To help facilitate patient referrals, please complete the referral form and fax it to 401-606-8549.
Aquatic Therapy Now Offered through Vanderbilt Rehab in Newport
Brown University Health Rehabilitation Services now offers aquatic physical therapy in Newport, through the Vanderbilt Rehabilitation Center.
Patients can work with experienced therapists in a heated, salt-water aquatic therapy pool through a partnership with St. Clare-Newport, a long-term care facility convenient to the hospital campus.
To refer a patient, call 401-845-1845.
New Services Locations
Brown Health Medical Group Opens New Location and Welcomes New Neurosurgeon
Brown Health Medical Group (LPG) recently opened a new office location for neurosurgery, with a new provider, at 1351 South County Trail in East Greenwich.
LPG and the Norman Prince Neurosciences Institute welcomed neurosurgeon Maria Guglielmo, MD this past August. She has been in practice for almost 20 years, offering the full spectrum of neurosurgical care, with focus on spinal surgery and interventional pain procedures.
Dr. Guglielmo’s clinical interests include adult spine surgery and neurosurgical treatments for chronic pain, and her research interests include transient forebrain ischemia and traumatic brain injury. Dr. Guglielmo is a member of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, and the North American Spine Society.
Each of the LPG neurosurgeons has specific neurosurgical subspecialty expertise, including surgery for brain tumors and epilepsy, cerebrovascular surgery, skull-base surgery, radiosurgery, complex spine surgery, and pediatric neurosurgery. To refer a patient, call 401-793-9166.
Brown Health Medical Group Opens New Primary Care Locations
Brown Health Medical Group now offers nine primary care locations throughout the state with the addition of two new locations in Cranston and Warwick. Other LPG primary care practices are located in Providence, Bristol, Tiverton, Portsmouth, Jamestown and Newport. New primary care providers join LPG at two new locations:
Brown Health Medical Group, Cranston RI
David G. Kerzer, DO; Jason Kerzer, DO; and Matthew T. Salisbury, MD welcome new patients at the Cranston location:
Brown Health Medical Group, Inc.
Primary Care
1500 Pontiac Avenue
Cranston, RI 02910
Phone: 401-944-4300
Fax: 401-464-4071
Brown Health Medical Group, Warwick RI
Douglas S. Foreman, DO, welcomes new patients at the Warwick location:
Brown Health Medical Group, Inc.
Primary Care
1444 Warwick Avenue
Warwick, RI 02888
Phone: 401-606-2680
Fax: 401-919-5131
New Chief of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology
Rishi R. Lulla, MD, MS, joins Brown University Health as chief of pediatric hematology/oncology at Hasbro Children’s.
Dr. Lulla comes to Brown University Health after years of experience as an attending physician in Chicago hospitals. He was also assistant professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University. Recently, he was honored for outstanding dedication to pediatric neuro-oncology by the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, and he was also named one of Chicago’s top pediatric cancer doctors by Chicago magazine.
Dr. Lulla earned his medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine and completed his residency and fellowship at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. He has contributed to his field through research on pediatric central nervous system tumors. He is a member of the American Society of Pediatric Hematology Oncology, the Children’s Oncology Group, and the Society for Neuro-Oncology.
Dr. Athena Poppas Named Cardiology Chief
Cardiologist Athena Poppas, MD, FACC, FASE was appointed the new chief of the division of cardiology for Rhode Island Hospital, The Miriam Hospital, and The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.
Dr. Poppas is also the director of the Brown University Health Cardiovascular Institute and a professor of medicine at the Alpert Medical School. She was recently named vice president of the American College of Cardiology, a position she will assume at the organization’s ceremony in March 2019.
Dr. Poppas earned her medical degree from the University of Wisconsin Medical School. She completed her residency in internal medicine at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, and a residency in cardiovascular medicine at University of Chicago Hospital. She also practiced and taught at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard University prior to joining Brown University Health and Brown in 1998.
New Physician-in-Chief for Emergency Medicine
Jeremiah D. Schuur, MD, MHS, FACEP, is the new physician-in-chief for emergency medicine at Brown University Health and chair of emergency medicine at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. He begins on December 1.
Dr. Schuur comes to Brown University Health from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. He completed his residency in emergency medicine at Rhode Island Hospital and earned his medical degree at New York University School of Medicine in New York City. He completed a fellowship at Yale University, where he also earned his master’s in health sciences.
Prior to his post at Brigham and Women’s, Dr. Schurr was an attending physician in the Yale New Haven Hospital emergency department. He is a fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians and has held numerous committee leadership posts within the organization.
Dr. Jody Underwood Appointed Interim Chief of Psychiatry
Jody Underwood, MD, was appointed interim chief of psychiatry at Brown University Health. She is responsible for the clinical and administrative oversight of psychiatry for Rhode Island Hospital, The Miriam Hospital, and Brown Health Medical Group.
At the Brown University Health Cancer Institute, Dr. Underwood developed, structured, and led numerous medical programs and served as a mentor and teacher to students, residents, physicians, and other medical professionals. Her areas of expertise include adult therapy and medication management, psychopharmacology, psychosomatic psychiatry, transplant psychiatry and psychiatric oncology. She is a leader on the medical advisory committee of the Rhode Island Free Clinic.
Dr. Underwood earned her medical degree from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark, and completed her residency at Rhode Island Hospital and Butler Hospital in Providence.