Integrative Medicine Opens at The Regional Cancer Center

Faxton-St. Luke’s Healthcare and St. Elizabeth Medical Center are pleased to announce the addition of the Integrative Medicine Program at The Regional Cancer Center.
Integrative Medicine allows patients to learn about therapies that can complement their current medical treatments. This may include diet, herbals, supplements, acupuncture, stress reduction and relaxation techniques.
For patient Sarah Breen, Integrative Medicine was the right choice. Breen’s husband, Vincent, saw information about the program on television. Sarah contacted The Regional Cancer Center and was eager for a consultation. She suffered from severe, persistent back pain that made standing, walking, or even lying down painful, and it was worsening. “I was willing to try anything,” she said.
Sarah’s initial appointment with the program’s physician, Dr. Kevin Mathews, surprised her. “The first visit I thought was just for questions and answers,” she said. “I didn’t expect any treatment, but there I was, on the table.” Dr. Mathews administered acupuncture, and also recommended herbals and aquatic therapy. After a few weeks, they began to notice a difference. “We would see that she was a little more mobile,” he said. “She noticed improvement, and her husband really noticed a lot of improvement.”
This type of success is exactly what the program hopes for, said Mary Kate Schuster, RN, OCN, and cancer program director. “And the exciting thing is that it’s not just for cancer patients,” she added. “It’s for any patient who’s interested in enhancing their health and wellness, facing any illness, or facing cancer.”
Integrative medicine is the use of evidence-based complementary therapies and what some people would call “alternative” therapies as part of mainstream treatment, Dr. Mathews said. Those undergoing cancer treatment and cancer survivors are frequent users of complementary therapies; which may help with nutrition, pain, anxiety, insomnia, fatigue, and chemotherapy-related nausea. Things such as guided imagery, acupuncture, massage, herbals, osteopathic and chiropractic manual therapies as well as hypnosis are recommended based on a patient’s condition. Some of these services are offered on-site, and others are provided by a network of complementary providers.
Sarah said that the treatments helped her. This pleases Dr. Mathews. “What we are looking at with integrative medicine is not only the cure, but the healing process, and recognizing the body’s innate capacity to heal itself,” he said. “Healing can take place at any point in any illness on all levels – body, mind, and spirit.”
For more information about The Integrative Medicine Program at The Regional Cancer Center, please call (315) 624-5390. Office Hours by appointment on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Faxton Campus of Faxton-St. Luke’s Healthcare, 1676 Sunset Avenue, Utica, New York.

The 12th Annual Miracle Home Makeover Kicks Off to Benefit Children’s Miracle Network

On April 25, 2008, Faxton-St. Luke’s Healthcare Foundation, in partnership with WKTV NewsChannel 2, Lite 98.7FM and Lewis Custom Homes kicked off the 12th Annual $100,000 Miracle Home Makeover to benefit Children’s Miracle Network. One lucky person will win a $100,000 Miracle Home Makeover or $100,000 in cash. For more than a decade, the Children’s Miracle Network Miracle Home project has built miracles for the children of our community. In eleven years, nearly $1.7 million dollars has been raised by the project to benefit women and children’s services at Faxton-St. Luke’s Healthcare.WKTV-NewsChannel 2 and Lite 98.7FM will join the Faxton-St Luke’s Healthcare Foundation, Lewis Custom Homes, and the Home Builders Association of Mohawk Valley over the next several months to explore the endless possibilities of the $100,000 home makeover. Tune in weekly to see incredible new ideas in decorating, remodeling or expanding your home. A maximum of 4,000 tickets are available and may be purchased at $100 each by calling Faxton-St. Luke’s Healthcare’s Foundation Office at (315) 624-5600. The drawing for the Miracle Home Makeover will be held on Wednesday, October 22, 2008 at 6:00pm at Jay-K Lumber Corp., Seneca Turnpike, New Hartford. “The $100,000 Miracle Home Makeover is a great way for the winner to create their dream home, while giving back to the community at the same time,” said Eileen Pronobis, executive director of Faxton-St Luke’s Healthcare Foundation. “More than 75 vendors and contractors donate their time, talents and products to this project and we are grateful to them all.” “Lewis Custom Homes is thrilled to be part of this project that continues to provide equipment, programs and services that help area children,” said Luke Lewis, general contractor for the project and Faxton-St. Luke’s Healthcare Foundation Board Member. “So many of our participating vendors’ and contractors’ families have used the services at Faxton-St. Luke’s, and we are all proud to give back.”Projects such as the $100,000 Miracle Home Makeover allow Faxton-St. Luke’s Healthcare to make a difference in the lives of so many children by enhancing technology, providing pediatric equipment and services, and by supporting programs like the EMS Project Kids Care Program and Project Kids Talk that help provide compassionate, professional care to our community.For more information call the Faxton-St. Luke's Healthcare Foundation Office at (315) 624-5600

Wireless at FSLH

After months of planning and installation, wireless Internet is now accessible throughout the Faxton Campus and is in the works at the St. Luke’s Campus. The wireless network not only allows for better care and maintenance of patients and their records, but also provides free Internet service to patients and visitors. It is currently used in the Emergency Department for bedside registration as well as nursing documentation, which is part of the Clinical Information System (Eclipsys). In the future, Faxton-St. Luke’s Healthcare (FSLH) staff will also use the wireless technology to collect patient vitals - facilitating a faster, more efficient workplace.Requests from patients and their family members for wireless Internet is one of the many reasons FSLH decided it was time wireless technology was installed. FSLH is currently the only hospital in the area to offer wireless Internet to patients and families. “It is really nice for patients as well as their visitors to be able to use the Internet without leaving the patient’s room,” said Don Parlagreco, Team Lead/Network Analyst for NDS. “It is difficult for family members and friends to take time off from work to care for a loved one who is in the hospital, so this is just one more step that FSLH has taken to make their lives easier and visits more comfortable.” Patients in the Dialysis Unit find the wireless Internet a valuable amenity to have. With most patients coming in for Dialysis a few times a week for four to five hours at a time, the wireless Internet helps pass the time. Fred Testa has been coming to the Faxton Campus for Dialysis for one year and takes advantage of the Internet while he is in for treatment.“Anything that makes your time go faster while you are in for Dialysis is a bonus,” Testa said. “My nephew plays hockey and his games are broadcasted on the Internet, so it is great that I can come to Faxton and not have to miss watching his games. I never come to Dialysis without my computer.” The wireless network set up and installation at Faxton took two months, and now that it is complete, the wireless network should be up and running at St. Luke’s by the end of June. At the Faxton Campus, the wireless is installed everywhere but in the private physician offices. At St. Luke’s, it will be accessible everywhere except the Professional Office Building.The wireless network is an advancement FSLH has made to keep up with the latest technology to offer the best care possible to patients. “It is an expensive system to install and maintain, but we believe the benefits will definitely outweigh the cost,” Parlagreco said. For more information about the wireless network, call FSLH Communications and Marketing Department at (315) 624-5600.

New Security System on Faxton-St. Luke’s Healthcare’s Maternity and Pediatrics Units

On Wednesday, May 28, 2008, a security system will be activated at Faxton-St. Luke’s Healthcare (FSLH) that will offer additional security and protection to the organization’s smallest patients. In a 2005 study by the National Center on Missing & Exploited Children and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, there were 116 infants abducted from healthcare facilities in the last two decades. Eighty-five percent of the abductions were within the areas including mother’s room, nursery and pediatrics. Having one child abducted is too many.

The new security system for Maternity, Labor & Delivery, Nursery and Pediatrics, which was funded by the Children’s Miracle Network of the Faxton-St. Luke’s Healthcare Foundation, includes locked doorways that can only be accessed by swiping Staff ID badges at the entrance or by calling the unit using the telephone available at each unit entrance.

The number of family members to Labor & Delivery will also be limited. Only two can be present in the delivery room and they will be identified by purple wrist bands.

Unique to the new system is the change in access for the two elevators located directly across from the Medical Records Office. The elevators will continue to have public access for the Ground, First and Second floors, but no public access to the Third Floor where Maternity and Labor & Delivery are located.

The Admitting staff (available 24-hours-a-day) can access the unit directly via the two elevators across from Medical Records by using a special swipe card. They can also call the unit and let them know when the mother is coming up on the main bank of elevators. If the mother arrives through the Emergency Department, the ED staff will make a call to the floor to let staff know the mother is coming.

There were more than 2,100 births at The Birthplace of Faxton-St. Luke’s Healthcare in 2007. It is the only hospital in the area with a Level II Special Care Nursery and Neonatologists on call 24-hours-a-day.

For more information, contact Faxton-St. Luke's Healthcare at 315-624-5600 or visit faxtonstlukes.com