Accolades for South Nassau in women’s health

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For the fifth straight year, Becker’s Hospital Review, a health care industry trade publication, has named South Nassau Communities Hospital to its list of “100 Hospitals with Great Women’s Health Programs” in the United States.

The editorial team at Becker’s Hospital Review based their selection on national rankings and awards received from institutions including U.S. News & World Report, CareChex, Healthgrades, Women’s Choice Award’s and Baby-Friendly USA, the accrediting body for the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative in the U.S.

“From high-risk pregnancies and infertility to breast cancer and reproductive malignancies, women across the South Shore know that they can turn to South Nassau for patient-centered healthcare that combines world-class physician specialists with advanced medical technologies and treatments,” said Richard Murphy, South Nassau’s president and chief executive officer.

 “This recognition testifies to our long-standing commitment to ensure that women have comprehensive and convenient access to a network of healthcare services devoted to their health and wellness,” added Dr. Alan Garely, chair of obstetrics and gynecology.

South Nassau’s scope of women’s healthcare services includes breast health, obstetrics and gynecology, maternal fetal medicine, genetic counseling, women’s imaging, and gynecologic oncology.

South Nassau’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology offers women access to specialized health care for treatment of reproductive health conditions, from endometrial biopsies and colposcopies to gynecologic oncology. At South Nassau’s Women’s Center for Pelvic Floor Disorders, all-too-common conditions such as incontinence and constipation are diagnosed and treated using the latest technology administered by recognized surgeons. South Nassau is one of only a handful of locations in the country that offers this service.

At the hospital’s Center for New Beginnings, a team of obstetricians, labor and delivery nurses and high-risk pregnancy specialists delivered more than 2,000 babies in 2017.  The center features 26 private family/newborn rooms, and a 6-bed neonatal intensive care unit. Staffed by board-certified neonatologists, the NICU is equipped with the dedicated medical technologies that premature deliveries and newborns with developmental complications or conditions require.  The center also has a dedicated surgical suite for mothers needing a Caesarean section delivery.

South Nassau’s Center for Women’s Imaging provides the diagnostic technologies needed to detect breast disease in its earliest stage. Designated a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence by the American College of Radiology, the CWI offers an array of state-of-the-art diagnostic technologies, including digital mammography, high resolution ultrasound and MRI of the breast.

If a tumor or abnormality is detected, the Center for Breast Health at South Nassau’s Gertrude & Louis Feil Cancer Center offers advanced treatments for breast cancer, and uses targeted surgical techniques that aim to preserve as much of the healthy breast and surrounding areas as possible.  This includes breast-conserving surgery (commonly known as lumpectomy), in which only the tumor or abnormality is removed from the breast; or mastectomy, an operation in which the whole breast is removed.  For invasive breast cancer, these procedures may be accompanied by a sentinel lymph node biopsy, which is a minimally invasive technique for staging of lymph nodes.

Oncoplastic surgical techniques are also offered.  Oncoplasty combines surgical cancer removal with plastic surgery techniques to produce a superior cosmetic end result. Recommendations for whole-body or “systemic” treatments, such as hormonal therapy, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, or a combination of two of the three therapies, may follow either surgical approach.  If early-stage breast cancer is present, sentinel lymph node biopsy is used as an alternative to traditional lymph node dissection.

-Compiled by Peter Belfiore