| Lahey Clinic | |
| Lahey Clinic in Burlington, Massachusetts | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Burlington, Massachusetts, United States |
| Organization | |
| Care system | Medicare/Medicaid/charity |
| Hospital type | Teaching/Specialist |
| Affiliated university | Tufts University School of Medicine |
| Services | |
| Emergency department | Trauma certification level II |
| Beds | 317 |
| History | |
| Founded | 1923 |
| Links | |
| Website | http://www.Lahey.org |
| Lists | Hospitals in the United States |
The Lahey Clinic is a physician-led nonprofit teaching hospital of Tufts University School of Medicine based in Burlington, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1923 by surgeon Frank H. Lahey, M.D.
Contents |
When Frank Howard Lahey founded a group practice in 1923 with renowned gastroenterologist Sara Jordan, M.D., and 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. (Its former building now houses the BU School of Education.)
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 cutting-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 (18 km) 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.
At Lahey Clinic, more than 450 physicians and 4,000 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]
Lahey Clinic provides access to many medical specialties.
The Landsman 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.
Lahey Clinic Medical Center, in Burlington, serves more than 4,000 patients each day. This location includes a 317-bed acute-care hospital, 23 operating rooms, extensive diagnostic facilities, a 24-hour Emergency Room and Level II Trauma Center, and physicians' offices and ambulatory clinics. Hospital and physician services, including laboratory, X-ray and pharmacy, are available under one roof. All inpatient rooms are private with private baths.
Lahey Clinic Medical Center, North Shore, in Peabody (known as Lahey North), serves nearly 800 outpatients each day. Lahey North is a full-service medical center featuring a 24-hour Emergency Department, an Ambulatory Surgery Center, and more than 20 medical and surgical specialties. Patients have access to a 10-bed inpatient care unit and various ancillary services, including on-site diagnostic radiology and MRI. With the recent completion of a 65,000-square-foot (6,000 m2) facility and clinical services expansion, Lahey Clinic Medical Center, North Shore, offers even more services in a larger, patient and family-friendly environment.
Lahey Medical Center in Lexington, is a comprehensive health center providing outpatient services in the suburbs west of Boston. In addition to adult primary care, the Lexington facility offers consultation services in a range of medical and surgical specialties, including dermatology, gastroenterology, gynecology, neurology, orthopaedic surgery, otolaryngology, physical therapy and rheumatology. Diagnostic resources available in Lexington include laboratory services, X-ray, bone density testing, digital mammography, and an open MRI. The Center for Cosmetic and Laser Surgery and the MS Center are also based at the Lexington facility.
Lahey Clinic also has twelve community group practices. Lahey's community group practices are staffed by physicians and allied health professionals in locations spanning from Merrimack Valley to the North Shore, and throughout the northwest suburbs of Boston. Physicians in these practices are board certified in internal medicine, pediatrics or family practice and work with local medical resources as appropriate, with access to Lahey Clinic specialists when needed.
Lahey Clinic has also recently established a number of satellite specialty care locations in Massachusetts and New Hampshire to further expand its ability to provide subspecialty care in the fields of cancer, urology and the neurosciences to local area residents.
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.
There has been word from within Lahey Clinic that the entire Pediatric Medicine Department may be dropped from Lahey Clinic before the end of the year. It appears as if the department has been losing money, and Lahey Clinic feels the shift from dedicated Pediatrics to "womb to tomb" doctors is the way health care will be provided in the future.