Mercy opens new sleep medicine center

Mercy Medical Center is opening a new sleep medicine center to help diagnose and treat the sleep disorders of South Shore residents.

The Center for Sleep Medicine is scheduled to open on April 1. Modeled more after a hotel suite than a hospital, the center offers comfortable rooms for patients where doctors can study their sleep patterns, vital signs and more to help diagnose sleep disorders.

“Any chronic complaint about sleep that interferes with the patient’s cognitive functions…is something that needs to be addressed,” said Dr. Chrisoula Politis, the director of the new center. “[Sleep disorders] are more common than we think, and they can go undiagnosed for years.”

Each room in the Center for Sleep Medicine is equipped with queen-sized beds, flat-screen televisions and bathrooms with showers. When patients stay the night, they are monitored by sleep technologists who use state-of-the-art equipment to measure stages of sleep, oxygen usage, respiratory effort, heart rate, and what a patient’s limbs do. There is also a camera in each room to record what happens while a person sleeps.

Doctors can then use all of this information to help diagnose a sleep disorder and create a treatment plan for it.

“Mercy is excited to offer this important diagnostic and treatment service,” said Ron Steimel, executive vice president and CAO, in a release. “The new sleep center allows our communities to have their sleep issues addressed in a state-of-the-art facility close to home. This further demonstrates our commitment toward the communities we serve to offer comprehensive, quality health care.”

Politis also said that she will be running a sleep clinic at the facility, so patients can potentially be diagnosed and treated without having to spend the night.

A patient’s doctor can refer them to the sleep center if they feel it’s necessary. Politis said that Mercy has been working with local physicians to help educate them on the sings of sleep disorders.