Tradition

Since 1923, Methodist Hospitals has made a strong commitment to the people of Northwest Indiana and they continue to support the health of the community by investing in new technologies that give those in the region the best in preventative medicine and healthcare.

Methodist is a not-for-profit, community-based healthcare system that is governed by a board of directors. Stewards of their mission, they reinvest in the regionıs cities and towns through charitable giving, community education programs, support services, screenings, and by ensuring quality care to their most vulnerable and underserved citizens. Methodist Hospitals is a ³Safety Net² hospital. ³Safety Net² hospitals serve a high percentage of uninsured and Medicaid patients whose costs frequently are not covered by Medicaid reimbursement rates. The state provides funding to help bridge this gap. Methodist strives to be a part of the community as a strong advocate for its continued physical, emotional and economic well-being.

Methodist has two full service campuses just 14 miles apart. Northlake is their urban campus in Gary while Southlake Campus in Merrillville is located near one of the Midwestıs busiest retail areas. Combined campus bed capacity is 625 plus nurseries. Midlake Campus is their outpatient facility in Gary conveniently located between the Northlake and Southlake campuses just off of Interstate 94. The Rehab Centers, providing outpatient rehabilitation services at Midlake, opened in 2003. Located adjacent to the main entrance of our Southlake Campus in Merrillville, is the Diagnostic Outpatient Center and Medical Office Building. Built in 2006, this facility provides advanced diagnostic and imaging services and laboratory services as well as professional offices for many of their medical staff. Their medical staff of more than 500 physicians represents nearly 60 medical specialties. Methodist is a major local employer with over 2,300 employees. Their volunteer guild is more than 200 strong.

Philosophy

Methodistıs mission is to provide compassionate, quality health care services to all those in need. Their vision is to be the best place for employees to work, the best place for patients to receive care and the best place for physicians to practice medicine. They are founded on the values of integrity, compassion, accountability, respect, and excellence.

Technology

Methodist understands that the way to administer proper care to those in need is through both the expertise of the physicians and staff, as well as by utilizing the best medical technologies available. So Methodist has made a commitment to employ only the best in their fields, and they have made recent investments in technologically-advanced equipment for the finest in preventative medicine and healthcare. Thanks to state funding, Methodist was able to invest a total of just over $36 million in patient care technology in 2008.

One of these technologies is a flat detector biplane catheterization lab, an advanced imaging tool that reconstructs the clearest possible 3-D picture of the finest vessels and intricate anatomy to treat a variety of disorders including diseases of the heart and blood vessels, neurovascular disorders and other conditions. This X-ray technology enables physicians to make a faster and more accurate diagnosis and perform minimally invasive procedures with more accuracy and precision. Mayumi Oka, MD, the only neurointerventional radiologist on staff in Northwest Indiana and highly regarded for her work, joined Methodist in 2006. Dr. Oka is excited about the benefit this new equipment will bring to the patient and physician, ³The images are much more precise using this equipment. The biplane system can provide images of vessels from two angels simultaneously; this is essential when treating complex anatomy such as brain vessels.² Using the new equipment, the physician has an enhanced view of the structures as they diagnose and treat. Neurointervention can be used to treat brain aneurysm, arteriovenous malformation (AVM), strokes, stenosis (narrowed vessels) and tumors. One of the more significant advances Dr. Oka brings to Methodist is the treatment of acute stroke. She can use clot removing catheters and the intra-arterial administration of clot dissolving medications that can reverse stroke symptoms. In other settings, the clot dissolving medication might be administered intravenously and would need to be given within three hours of the patient presenting with stroke symptoms. However, by employing neurointerventional radiology techniques, a patient now has as much as a six-hour window to receive the medication. The biplane system also enhances the treatment of cardiovascular patients. The images produced by the biplane are so detailed that physicians are able to see clearly enough to maneuver small medical devices‹such as catheters, stents, and guidewires‹during balloon angioplasties, vascular interventions and other clinical procedures.

Methodist has also invested in a technology that allows patients to avoid surgery. This piece of equipment, called the Gamma Knife, is part of Methodistıs highly regarded cancer and neuroscience programs and is one of only two such pieces of equipment in the entire state. ³The Gamma Knife isnıt a knife but a machine that delivers 201 highly focused beams of gamma radiation to the brain lesion or other malformation in the brain,² says Hytham Rifai, M.D., medical director of Neurosurgery. ³It doesnıt require any cutting. The patient undergoes just one treatment and goes home the same day.² A significant benefit of the Gamma Knife is its precision in delivering the cancer-destroying radiation. ³The Gamma Knife is designed specifically for brain surgery,² says Robert Woodburn, M.D., medical director of Radiation Oncology. ³Because of its accuracy, normal tissue in the brain is spared.² While most commonly associated with treating brain tumors, the Gamma Knife is also very effective in treating other disorders such as facial pain disorders; brain tumors such as brain metastases; primary brain tumors; meningiomas; acoustic neuromas; arteriovenous malformation; pituitary adenomas; and ocular melanoma.

Methodist also has employed the use of stereotactic body radiosurgery, a new technology that is used to deliver very high doses of radiation very accurately to tumors in the body. Stereotactic body radiosurgery as an alternative to lung cancer surgery has yielded very high cure rates, comparable to actual surgery. Stereotactic body radiosurgery presents elderly patients, patients with severe lung disease, patients with severe heart disease, and other patients with poor health a curative alternative to lung cancer surgery. Stereotactic body radiosurgery has also demonstrated the highest cure rates in the literature to date for lung cancer treatment.

The new 64-slice CT system at Methodist can produce intricately detailed, 3-D images of internal anatomy. In a single rotation, the LightSpeed VCT from GE Healthcare creates 64 high-resolution anatomical images as thin as a credit card, hence the name 64-slice CT scanner. These images are then combined to form a three-dimensional view of the patientıs anatomy for the physician to analyze. ³The LightSpeed VCT 64-slice scanner is faster than any other CT scanner on the market today. This CT scanner allows patients to be imaged in no more than five to 10 seconds,² says Tulsi Sawlani, M.D., chief of radiology at Methodist. ³Thanks to the 64-slice CT scanner, we are better able than ever to detect a wide range of disease entities including cardiovascular disease, metastatic cancer, appendicitis, decreased blood flow to the brain, and renal stones as small as 1-2 mm in size.² Due to its speed and high resolution, this system will also enhance physiciansı ability to perform high-quality imaging for musculoskeletal, neurological, and pediatric diseases. Methodist also purchased software to enhance the CT scanner. This software, TeraReconıs Aquarius Workstation, enables real-time diagnostic review of 2D, 3D, and 4D images for managing large thin-slice CT and MR scans.

As part of a patientıs prevention or diagnosis of breast cancer, one of Methodistıs weapons in the arsenal is the use of the most advanced digital technology. ³Digital mammography offers a number of advantages for the patient,² explains Murthy Chimata, M.D., the hospitalıs lead interpreter of mammograms. ³Many women have dense breasts, especially young women and those using hormone replacement therapy. In these cases, digital mammography gives us a better visualization of the tissue. Early intervention is key to treatment, and digital mammography technology is the cornerstone of early detection.² Methodist Hospitals has also been utilizing the Philips Isite PACS system.

PACs is a computer system used to capture, store, distribute, and display x-ray, PET/CT, Ultrasound, MRI, Nuclear Medicine, digital mammography and Cath Lab images. All images are digital and stored in one unified PACS system. This allows physicians and health care providers access to the patientıs current and prior imaging studies and associated clinical information as soon as the patientıs exam is completed and the process for exam report turnaround is improved. The system has also improved workflow for the Radiology staff and enhanced productivity.

The purchase of these pieces of equipment and support of advanced technology demonstrates Methodistıs significant investment to provide physicians and patients with the latest technology.

When time counts

Chief Medical Director of the Emergency Department and EMS Director Dr.

Michael McGee, M.D, M.P.H. says that Methodistıs investment in two critical pieces of equipment in the emergency room save time and save lives. ³In trauma care and the ER, we get a lot of patients who have problems breathing and need to be intubated. But with some patients, who are either obese or because of their injury, or little babies, itıs hard to see their airway. So we purchased a piece of equipment called a Glidescope that is a video laryngoscope, attached to a high-resolution color screen. It is state of the art and weıve used it for about a year,² says McGee ³Another important piece of equipment is our ultrasound, which we use for trauma patients to help detect abnormal fluid collection. It helps save time for the patient so we can get them into surgery right away which can save a personıs life. We can also use it for patients who we have a hard time getting an IV into. It can see the main vessels and put a good IV in. Itıs less painful,² McGee says.

Integrated Clinical Care System

Methodist Hospitals invested 23 million dollars in the new Meditech system, consolidating patient safety, medical record keeping, and information technology. By having a fully-integrated system that starts at registration and flows seamlessly through to discharge and patient accounting, caregivers have a complete, up-to-the-minute electronic patient medical record which accurately reflects all the care delivered, enhancing clinical decision-making and patient safety. Nurses are now documenting care at the patientıs bedside using wireless computers, eliminating double documentation and improving accuracy. As a result, patients are receiving exceptional care that continues to be high quality, highly safe, and highly efficient.

Unparralleled success

Out of the more than 5,000 hospitals evaluated by U.S. News & World Report, only 170 met the standard in one or more specialties, and Methodist Hospitals is ranked among the best hospitals in the nation for Neurology and Neurosurgery. ³We are honored to have our Neurology and Neurosurgery services at the NeuroScience Institute recognized by U.S. News & World Report. We are the only hospital in Northwest Indiana to have one of its services recognized nationally. It is through the excellent work and dedication of our physicians and staff that we received this national recognition,² said Ian McFadden, President/CEO, Methodist Hospitals. Long recognized in the community for its advances in neurological care, Methodist Hospitals NeuroScience Institute continually proves itself a leader in the field.

In addition, Methodist Hospitals received the 2009 Stroke Care Excellence Award from HealthGrades, the healthcare ratings company. This award recognizes Methodist Hospitalıs clinical excellence for treating stroke patients, placing the facility in the top ten percent nationwide for stroke services five years in a row. ³Methodist Hospitalıs has the only stroke program in Northwest Indiana to receive the Stroke Care Excellence Award and to rank in the top ten percent in the nation for Stroke Services 5 years in a row,² said Sanjeev Maniar, MD, Medical Director of Stroke Program.

Methodist hospitals also has been acknowledged for their Neuro-Intensive Care Unit, Intermediate care units and their Neuro-Interventional radiologist on staff, as well as a designation by the Multiple Sclerosis Society as a Multidisciplinary MS Center.

Let methodist find the right physician for you‹ oncall, online, anytime One call to Methodist Hospitals physician referral line, 1-888-909-DOCS

(3627) or a visit to www.methodisthospitals.org, helps residents of Northwest Indiana find a doctor through a live call advisor 24 hours a day,

7 days a week. Methodist OnCall is a free service provided by Methodist Hospitals to connect patients to doctors who are right for them. In addition to locating the right doctor for you, you can also call 1-888-909-DOCS for more information or to register for any of the monthly seminars and screenings that are offered at Methodist Hospitals. Our monthly offerings include childbirth classes, stroke risk assessments, breast and colon screenings, bone density screenings and weight loss seminars to learn more about our bariatric surgery program, and many more.