Lahey Clinic

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Lahey Clinic
Lahey Clinic in Burlington, Massachusetts
Location
Place Burlington Massachusetts, (US)
Organization
Care System Medicare/Medicaid/charity
Hospital Type Teaching/Specialist
Affiliated University Tufts University School of Medicine
Services
Emergency Dept. Trauma certification level II
Beds 317
History
Founded 1923
Links
Website Homepage
See also Hospitals in the United States

The Lahey Clinic is a nonprofit teaching hospital in Burlington, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1923 by the surgeon, Frank H. Lahey, M.D. and is considered one of the best medical clinics in the United States.

Contents

[edit] History

When Frank Howard Lahey founded a group practice in 1922 with the renowned gastroenterologist, Sara Jordan, M.D., and the anesthesiologist, Lincoln Fleetford Sise, M.D., his plan was to create a clinic where many specialties would coexist under one roof. This idea became the Lahey Clinic and it was built at 605 Commonwealth Avenue, in Boston where it would remain for another fifty-five years.

Lahey's original team—gastroenterologist Sara Jordan, anesthesiologist Lincoln Sise, operating nurse Blanche Wallace, surgical assistant Howard Clute—were pioneers in their fields.

Physicians saw only outpatients at Lahey Clinic in the early years. In fact, much of the day was spent traveling between the New England Baptist Hospital, New England Deaconess, and Peter Bent Brigham hospitals to perform surgeries and visit inpatients.

Medical centers were not common in the United States in the 1920s. If there were problems that the family doctor could not handle, the patient would be referred to a specialist or transported to a hospital. [1] Lahey’s team was often called out to outlying Greater Boston towns for emergencies—to towns and cities in New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine.

By the 1930s and 1940s, the Clinic was known worldwide for its phenomenal surgical outcomes, and state-of-the-art treatment of thyroid, gastrointestinal, and gall bladder disorders. In 1940, an article was written in Time Magazine describing the Clinic’s history and Dr. Lahey’s election as the new president of the American Medical Association.[2]

The reputation that Lahey Clinic has for innovative technology, pioneer medical treatment, and leading-edge research was built upon Dr. Lahey's belief that the group practice also should be a center for research and learning. From the beginning, the Clinic offered residents and fellows a chance to polish their skills under the careful supervision of some of the nation's leading physicians.

By the time the Clinic moved eleven miles northwest to its current location in Burlington in November 1980, the practice had expanded to include services offered by more than thirty departments. Many of these departments had begun with single physicians who worked to promote their specialty. The Gastroenterology and Anesthesiology Departments, in particular, arose from the practices of Jordan and Sise, who in the 1920s were among the first physicians in the United States to specialize in these growing fields.

[edit] About Lahey Clinic

At Lahey Clinic, more than 430 physicians and 4,400 nurses, therapists, and other support staff work together to provide compassionate care and superior patient outcomes.[3] The Clinic's multidisciplinary approach allows access for patients to physicians from several medical specialties, who cooperate to develop personalized treatment plans for each patient.

Lahey Clinic Medical Center is a teaching hospital of Tufts University School of Medicine.[4] In addition, many of its physicians hold teaching assignments at Harvard Medical School and Boston University School of Medicine. The Clinic maintains residency and fellowship programs for more than 130 new physicians in multiple subspecialties. [3]

As a research center, Lahey Clinic offers patients access to clinical trials of new therapies for diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and cataracts. Research programs at Lahey Clinic encompass more than 200 clinical trial protocols and participation in numerous national and international studies. [5]

[edit] Specialties

Lahey Clinic provides access to many medical specialties.

The Heart & Vascular Center is one of the largest in the region and is recognized as a Solucient 100 Top Hospital. [6] Through partnerships with local hospitals, Lahey physicians provide advanced cardiology services such as angioplasty and electrophysiology.

The Cerebrovascular Disease Center is among the most advanced in the region for the treatment of strokes and brain aneurysms. The Liver Transplantation Team was the first in New England to perform adult live-donor transplant procedures. In addition, surgeons are using minimally invasive laparoscopic methods, reducing the surgical recovery time for conditions such as kidney disease and bladder cancer. Robotic surgical techniques also are emerging in urology and gynecological surgery. For the past six years, Lahey Clinic was cited in U.S. News & World Report's America's Best Hospitals issue for excellence in treating urological diseases. [7]

Through the Sophia Gordon Cancer Center at Lahey Clinic, a complete range of medical and surgical specialty departments are involved in the care of cancer patients. They sponsor regular tumor conferences to exchange information and, together as a team, manage patients with the most complex diagnoses.

[edit] Facilities

Lahey Clinic Medical Center in Burlington encompasses an ambulatory care center serving more than 3,000 patients each day and a 317-bed hospital.[3] Lahey Clinic Medical Center, North Shore, in Peabody, serves more than 800 outpatients each day and includes a 10-bed hospital. Both feature 24-hour emergency departments and an American College of Surgeons verified Level II Trauma Center is based at the Burlington facility.

Lahey Clinic also has twelve community group practices that feature adult internists, pediatricians, and family practice specialists. These practices enable Lahey Clinic to serve communities such as Amesbury on the North Shore, Lexington in Boston's northwestern suburbs, and Haverhill on the New Hampshire border.

[edit] Recognition received

Lahey Clinic was named among the top cardiovascular teaching hospitals in the country by Solucient, a leading source of health care business research.[6] Lahey also received the Premier Award for Quality for excellent care in the area of heart failure.[8] In July 2006, U.S. News & World Report named Lahey Clinic in its “America’s Best Hospitals” issue for the ninth year in a row. Lahey was listed among the best in the country for excellence in urologic diseases. [7]

Lahey received the American Stroke Association’s Get with the Guidelines-Stroke Initial Performance Achievement Award.[9] Lahey is one of 68 centers classified as Primary Stroke Services by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Lahey Clinic has accreditation from the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) to perform live-donor liver transplants. Lahey’s liver tranplant team has performed more than 128 live-donor liver transplant surgeries since the program’s inception.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Doctors making house calls with horse and buggy. Retrieved on 2007-01-17.
  2. ^ Time Magazine article about Lahey Clinic and Dr. Lahey. Retrieved on 2007-01-16.
  3. ^ a b c 2006 Lahey Annual Report. Retrieved on 2007-05-30.
  4. ^ Tufts University website. Retrieved on 2006-12-12.
  5. ^ Clinical research study. Retrieved on 2007-05-30.
  6. ^ a b Solucient 100 Top Hospital. Retrieved on 2007-05-30.
  7. ^ a b U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved on 2007-05-30.
  8. ^ Premier Award for Quality. Retrieved on 2007-05-30.
  9. ^ American Stroke Association. Retrieved on 2007-05-30.