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Firsts, Milestones, and Awards
Methodist Hospital | Specialty & Transplant was the first in San Antonio to successfully complete the 50th Transcarotid Artery Revascularization procedure (TCAR), which demonstrates an excellent advancement in Carotid Stenosis treatment. Carotid artery stenosis is a narrowing of the large arteries on either side of the neck. These arteries carry blood to the head, face, and brain. This usually results in the build-up of plaque within the arteries, a condition known as atherosclerosis. Overtime, stenosis can worsen and lead to stroke. Performed by Patrick A. Hartsell, MD, the TCAR procedure reversed the direction of blood flow while he operated, and the patient’s risk of stroke during the procedure was significantly lower. While conventional surgery is an alternative option, TCAR has several additional advantages. Boulos Toursarkissian, MD, who has performed the majority of these procedures at the hospital, stated, “It is much less invasive, less painful, and saves time.” He also says the incision is much smaller which lessens recovery time. “Being the 50th, this milestone demonstrates the level of expertise and specialized skills of our team.” Toursarkissian notes that not every patient is a candidate for this type of procedure. Patients must meet certain criteria and candidacy should be determined by their physician. METHODIST HOSPITAL NAMED #1 BEST REGIONAL HOSPITAL
For the third consecutive year, Methodist Hospital was named the No. 1 Best Regional Hospital for 2021-22 by U.S. News and World Report. A best regional hospital ranking is determined by a hospital’s performance in the adult specialty rankings analysis. Despite the continual impact the pandemic has had on the community, Methodist Hospital has upheld an unwavering commitment to patient-centered care, maintaining quality and safety at the forefront. Methodist Hospital ranked high performance in eight procedures/conditions, three additional categories than years prior. The eight procedures and conditions include chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, colon cancer surgery, diabetes,
heart attack, heart failure, kidney failure, knee replacement, and stroke. Scores are based largely on objective measures, such as survival rates, volume and quality of nursing, patient safety, specialized staff, and hospital satisfaction. Data collected from other Methodist Healthcare System hospitals to include Methodist Children’s Hospital, Methodist Hospital Metropolitan, Methodist Hospital Northeast, Methodist Hospital Texsan, and Methodist Hospital Specialty and Transplant contributed to Methodist Hospital’s designation. “It gives us great pride to receive this recognition once again as it truly reflects the outstanding efforts and attention to safety our team members and physicians devote themselves to daily,” commented Dan Miller, Chief Executive Officer for Methodist Hospital and Methodist Children’s Hospital. “We have a continual focus on providing unparalleled care, and this designation affirms our commitment to bettering the lives of those in our community and beyond.” For the 2021-2022 rankings, U.S. News & World Report evaluated more than 4,500 hospitals nationwide in 15 specialties. U.S. News and World Report is the global leader in quality rankings; these annual ratings are designed to help patients and physicians make informed decisions about where to receive care for specific medical needs, such as common elective procedures and complex surgeries.
FIRSTS, MILESTONES AND AWARDS
METHODIST HOSPITAL PIONEERS MAJOR REVOLUTION IN HEART TRANSPLANT CARE
Nearly 350 Texans are on the heart transplant donor list. Methodist Hospital has pioneered a new ‘heart in a box’ technology that is expanding the pool of donor hearts and changing the future of heart transplantation. The TransMedics organ care system (OCS) is engineered to emulate the human body by keeping the heart warm and pumping oxygenated and nutrient-enriched blood so it is healthy for transport to the recipient. The portable transplant system enables doctors to keep organs outside the body longer and the opportunity to travel larger distances.
“Over the decade, the distance and total ischemic time have been increasing nationally with longer waiting time for heart offers due to the significant shortage of donors,” commented Masaki Funamoto, MD, Surgical Director of Lung Transplant at Methodist Hospital. “Using OCS, we can take a heart donation offer from longer distances and expand heart transplant opportunities for our patients with end-stage heart failure.” Conventionally, donor hearts were transported using cold storage on ice. Procurement teams could travel just outside of Texas for donor organs and have a four-hour window to transport the organ to the operating room, prepare it for surgery and implant it into the recipient’s body. This method is severely time-dependent and has no capability for assessment and optimization of organ status. “This method has worked, especially for cases with ischemic time less than 4 hours, but there is significant increased risk for primary graft dysfunction if the ischemic time extends longer than
4 hours,” said Dr. Funamoto. OCS was developed to improve upon the limitations of cold storage preservation to increase donor heart utilization. Once the organ has been recovered, the heart is connected to a portable device that keeps it at a metabolically active state. The OCS sends electrical signals to revive the heart and monitors the organ’s health more closely before it’s transplanted, which means doctors can better predict whether an organ will be well-suited in the recipient. “The OCS device can maintain organ perfusion with oxygenated blood and reduce ischemic injury, and potentially optimize the organ status during transportation. If organs are properly managed in OCS device, theoretically, we could accept heart offers from a larger geographic region without increasing risk for our recipients,” said Dr. Funamoto.
This is very promising technology; however, it is not a simple device and requires expert knowledge and experience for heart physiology in the OCS and its management. “If you incorrectly treat a heart in OCS, you can easily harm the organ. With my experience and with the professional transplant team members here at Methodist Hospital, we have the expertise to implement the OCS device successfully and safely here in San Antonio, where we can take the biggest advantage from this technology geographically.” Methodist Hospital is the first FDA commercial approved hospital in Texas to utilize this device. The heart transplant team deployed the OCS for the first time on October 1 to collect an organ for a patient suffering from cardiomyopathy. The OCS is changing the future of transplantation and improving clinical outcomes daily. More patients will now be able to receive the gift of transplantation, and the world-class level of care is accessible right here in South Texas. METHODIST HOSPITAL | METROPOLITAN CELEBRATES 500TH CHRONIC TOTAL OCCLUSION PROCEDURE
Methodist Hospital | Metropolitan recently performed their 500th Chronic Total Occlusion (CTO) procedure, which is considered the most complex Percutaneous Coronary Intervention procedure. They are the only hospital in South Texas to have performed this many CTO procedures. This procedure is typically a patient’s last hope when they are not a candidate for open-heart surgery. A non-surgical procedure, CTOs are performed when a patient has a complete or nearly complete blockage of their coronary arteries, which can lead to a heart attack. Patients with CTO typically experience chest discomfort, dizziness, fatigue, shortness of breath, and more.
“Many people with CTO have given up any hope of returning to a more normal lifestyle. We can provide this procedure which will provide them with a better quality of life,” said Hinh Keith D. Nguyen, M.D., Medical Director of the Cardiac Cath Lab.
Many are denied the procedure due to the lack of expertise at most hospitals. Thankfully, the team of expert physicians at Methodist Hospital | Metropolitan can perform this procedure and have achieved exceptional patient outcomes.
FIRSTS, MILESTONES AND AWARDS
METHODIST HEALTHCARE HOSPITALS RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE IN STROKE CARE
Four Methodist Healthcare hospitals are recipients of the 2021 Get With The Guidelines™- Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award from the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association.
Methodist Hospital, Methodist Hospital | Metropolitan, Methodist Hospital | Northeast and Methodist Hospital | Stone Oak achieved the Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Award, which recognizes our hospital’s commitment to ensuring that stroke patients receive the highest quality of care according to nationally recognized, researchdriven guidelines, based on the latest scientific evidence. To achieve the award, the hospitals met specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients at a set level for a designated period. The criteria include the proper use of medications and other stroke alignments that represent the most upto-date, evidence-based guidelines aimed at speeding recovery and reducing the likelihood of death and disability for stroke patients. Prior to discharge, these hospitals have provided patients education on how to manage their health, get a follow-up visit scheduled, as well as other care-transition interventions.
“Nearly 795,000 Americans suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year, which means someone is suffering from a stroke every 40 seconds,” said Dr. Paul Hancock, Chief Medical Officer of Methodist Healthcare. “I am incredibly proud of our teams for working together to improve stroke outcomes for our patients. We take great pride in earning this recognition because it exemplifies our efforts in providing the quality, timely and efficient care our community deserves.” In addition to the Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award, the four hospitals received the Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll award, which recognizes their commitment to meeting quality measures developed with more than 90 percent compliance for 12 consecutive months for the “Overall Diabetes Cardiovascular Initiative Composite Score. The American Heart Association introduced the award to bring attention to this high-risk population. The American Heart Association and American Stroke Association introduced the Get With The Guidelines program in 2001 to provide hospitals with the tools and resources to increase adherence to the latest researchbased guidelines, and thus, save lives. The quality measures key in on appropriate use of guideline-based care for stroke patients, including aggressive use of clot-busting and anti-clotting drugs, blood thinners and cholesterol-reducing drugs, preventive action for deep vein thrombosis, and smoke cessation counseling.
FOUR METHODIST HEALTHCARE HOSPITALS AWARDED TOP SCORES FOR PATIENT SAFETY
Four Methodist Healthcare hospitals have earned “A” Grades for Hospital Safety by the Leapfrog Group in the Fall of 2021. This achievement and national distinction recognize health care facilities for their efforts in providing safe healthcare and protecting them from harm.
An independent, national watchdog organization, The Leapfrog Group is committed to health care quality and safety. Every six months, all general hospitals across the country are assigned safety grades (‘A,’ ‘B,’ ‘C,’ ‘D’ or ‘F’). These scores depend on a hospital’s ability to prevent medical errors, injuries, accidents, infections, and more from happening to patients in their care. “An ‘A’ safety grade is an elite designation that your community should be proud of,” said Leah Binder, president, and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “The past year has been extraordinarily difficult for hospitals, but Methodist Healthcare shows us it is possible to keep a laser focus on patients and their safety, no matter what it takes.”
Leapfrog grades for Fall 2021 · Methodist Hospital | Metropolitan – 11 As in a row · Methodist Hospital | Specialty and Transplant – 8 As in a row
· Methodist Hospital | Atascosa – 6 As in a row · Methodist Hospital | Texsan – 5 As in a row
METHODIST HOSPITAL | ATASCOSA WELCOMES NEW ROBOT AND SURGEONS
Methodist Hospital | Atascosa is proud to announce that Atascosa County residents now have the option to experience advanced robotic-assisted technology as an alternative to traditional methods of minimally-invasive surgery. They recently welcomed its first surgical robot and a group of new surgeons to the hospital so patients no longer have to travel to San Antonio. Patients can experience many benefits when receiving a robotic-assisted surgery, including a more precise surgery, significantly less pain, less risk of infection and blood loss, early discharge from the hospital, less scarring, and a potentially shorter recovery. Before the robot, there was a limit to the type of surgeries available at the hospital. Now, they can expand the scope of surgeries they can provide to the community. This new technology to Atascosa County is just one example of the continued growth at Methodist Hospital | Atascosa.
FIRSTS, MILESTONES AND AWARDS
METHODIST HOSPITAL | METROPOLITAN RECEIVES OR EXCELLENCE AWARD FOR DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION
Methodist Hospital | Metropolitan was selected as the inaugural winner of Outpatient Surgery Magazine’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award. This award is just one of the many awards given yearly as part of their annual OR Excellence Awards. The OR Excellence Awards recognize facilities and staff that excel in various categories. Winners are selected for the remarkable work they do and for their outstanding accomplishments. “Methodist Hospital | Metropolitan was selected as the inaugural winner of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Award for taking the lead in providing welcoming care for members of the LGBTQ+ community,” said Daniel Cook, Editor-in-Chief/Editorial Director with Outpatient Surgery Magazine. “The significant and ongoing efforts of the hospital’s leadership team and frontline staff are a shining example of inclusivity that should inspire other healthcare systems and professionals to do the same for all patients.”
