• About UPMC |
• Hospitals & Facilities |
• Our Services |
• Find A Doctor |
• Your Visit |
• Health A-Z |
• Careers at UPMC

News Release

CHEST SURGERY ADVANCES TOP HOSPITAL'S ACHIEVEMENTS
UPMC Northwest also opens Franklin practice, adds technology

Feb. 28, 2007 — Advancement of thoracic surgical services and the opening of a new practice in Franklin highlighted UPMC Northwest’s achievements during 2006. Also the past year, the hospital added new technology including a state-of-the-art obstetrical ultrasound system, and opened a new outpatient laboratory in Franklin.

Thoracic/vascular surgeon James Klena, MD (with surgical team members Cassandra Burke and Roger Peterson) is bringing advanced surgical techniques to UPMC Northwest.

Thoracic Surgical Services – Thoracic/vascular surgeon James Klena, MD, is a partner in UPMC’s Heart, Lung & Esophageal Surgery Institute – one of the nation’s premier cardiac and thoracic (chest) surgery programs – and he is bringing many of the institute’s advanced surgical techniques to UPMC Northwest. Many of these procedures like video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) use minimally-invasive surgical techniques that produce excellent results with less pain, a shorter hospital stay, and a faster return to normal activities for the patient, and they are helping to give UPMC Northwest more advanced surgical services than ever.

While VATS is used most often to evaluate and treat cancer and other diseases of the lung and esophagus, it is a versatile procedure that has numerous other applications too, including managing hiatal hernia and acid reflux disease, preventing or repairing collapsed lung, diagnosing and treating fluid around the heart and lungs, evaluating and treating other chest tumors, treating emphysema, and repairing thickening in the esophagus that causes difficulty in swallowing.

Another leading edge procedure that is being introduced by Dr. Klena and interventional radiologist Mark Salerno, MD, is endovascular surgery, a minimally-invasive procedure for the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA). Vascular surgeons traditionally have repaired these dangerous bulges of the abdomen’s main artery through a long abdominal incision, but with the endovascular technique Dr. Klena and Dr. Salerno use a catheter to make the repair from inside the artery. Like VATS, endovascular surgery is safer and easier for patients to undergo.

Dr. Klena also specializes in surgically managing other non-cardiac diseases of the chest including the lungs and esophagus, and in using advanced vascular surgical techniques to open arteries and improve blood flow to the legs, brain and other organs.

New Practice – UPMC Northwest in September opened a new primary care practice known as Franklin Community Medicine-UPMC. Board certified family practitioner Peter Bendt, MD, and internist Vijayaprabha Ramanujam, MD (Dr. Viji) staff the Franklin-based practice, which offers convenient same-day appointments for patients who need prompt care.

Ultrasound System – UPMC Northwest’s Family Birthing Center has a new ultrasound unit that is helping staff members meet the needs of expectant mothers and their babies. The state-of-the-art General Electric LOGIQ 3 system is used most often at delivery: birthing center staff members can evaluate the size and position of the baby and obtain other information that helps to assure a safe, healthy delivery. Acquisition of the LOGIQ 3 system was made possible through gifts to UPMC Northwest Foundation’s 2006 Annual Appeal.

Outpatient Laboratory – UPMC Northwest opened its new outpatient laboratory in December in the Pennwood Building, 464 Allegheny Blvd. (Route 8 North), Franklin. Staff members are available to draw patients’ blood from 7 am to 5 pm weekdays. The new facility is one of UPMC Northwest’s seven outpatient lab sites in the area.

Hospitalist Program – UPMC Northwest’s hospitalist program is enhancing inpatient care while allowing six participating internists and family practitioners to focus more on the outpatients they see in their office practices. Hospitalists provide care for the participating doctors’ inpatients throughout the patients’ hospitalization; when the hospital stay ends, the patients’ primary care physicians resume providing care for them.

Sleep Center – UPMC Northwest’s four-bed Sleep Center moved in October from Franklin to the hospital’s Oil City campus. The Sleep Center specializes in diagnosing and treating sleep apnea and other sleep disorders. It is one of only a few sleep medicine centers in western Pennsylvania to be accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, which recognizes that a facility is providing high-quality sleep medicine services.

ThinPrep Imaging System – This new technology makes cervical cancer screening more thorough than ever. UPMC Northwest was the first hospital in the region to obtain the ThinPrep system, which uses state-of-the-art digital imaging technology to help laboratory staff members evaluate Pap slides for evidence of abnormal cervical cells.

A ‘Gold Star’ – The UPMC Northwest-affiliated Clarion Family Practice-UPMC earned a “Gold Star” award in a program that recognizes exceptional staff members of UPMC’s Physician Services Division (PSD). The award honors the Clarion Family Practice-UPMC staff for customer service excellence and the successful reopening of the Clarion facility.