Mary Chiles Hospital Expands Parking and Facilities, Adds New Equipment
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Mention colonoscopy and you’re likely to elicit nervous smiles and a quick change of subject.
Though it is a potent weapon in the fight against colon cancer – the nation’s No. 2 cancer killer – the internal exam has been regarded as uncomfortable and avoidable‚ despite doctors’ recommendations.
Now‚ Mary Chiles Hospital has made the procedure quicker‚ painless and more accurate with new state-of-the-art equipment‚ the latest in its continuing improvements in patient care.
Narrow-band imaging‚ as it is called‚ provides larger and clearer images to physicians using an endoscope‚ a lighted video camera at the end of a long tube‚ during colonoscopies and other exams. The improved pictures capture minute details with unparalleled clarity‚ enabling more accurate diagnoses and shorter exam times.
“The main benefit is determining whether something might be precancerous or benign‚” says Jennifer NeSmith‚ Mary Chiles vice president for physician services and marketing. “We’re only the second hospital in Kentucky to have this technology.”
Mary Chiles also offers patients deep sedation during the procedure‚ which makes for a more relaxed patient – monitored by an anesthesia specialist – as the operating physician concentrates on the procedure.
Expanding its patient services‚ the hospital recently renovated a former extended care facility‚ creating a 15‚000-square-foot‚ hospital-based Ambulatory Medical Care Center. Lexington specialists now use the new space for twice-monthly outpatient clinics. A new lab draw station makes it quicker for patients to drop in for lab work. A new registration desk and waiting area now serve the entire hospital‚ and a conference room is used for community events and educational programs.
“The new building also is home to Gateway Regional MRI‚ Gateway Physical Therapy and our new sleep lab‚” NeSmith says. “Folks can come‚ get hooked up to a machine and‚ basically‚ sleep while they’re evaluated for any sleep disorders they might have. Before this‚ there was not a sleep lab within 30 miles.”
The hospital also has added 72 parking spaces and zoned employee parking so that employees park farthest from the building.
“This has helped provide the closest‚ most convenient parking for patients and their friends and families‚” NeSmith says.
Add to these improvements new operating towers – computer systems used in the operating room for laparoscopic surgeries– pediatric dentistry services and new certification for the hospital’s mammography unit‚ and the hospital’s commitment to patients is even clearer.
“Our goal is to provide better and more convenient services for our patients so they can be treated locally by people they know and who know them‚ instead of going out of town‚” NeSmith says. “You just get better care from people you meet at the grocery store and at church than from people you’ll never see again.”
Story by Laura Hill
Photo by Greg Emens
