Clara Maass Medical Center

Coordinates: 40°47′09″N 74°10′35″W / 40.7857°N 74.1763°W

Clara Maass Medical Center is a hospital in Belleville, Essex County, New Jersey, United States, that is part of the Barnabas Health.[1] It was founded in 1868 as the Newark German Hospital, and was renamed in 1952 in honor of Clara Maass, a former nurse who trained there at the hospital's Christina Trefz Training School for Nurses, and become the hospital's head nurse. Maass' 1901 death during yellow fever experiments attracted national attention.[2]

Clara Maass Medical Center
Barnabas Health
Belleville
Geography
Location Belleville, Essex County, New Jersey, United States
Organization
Hospital type General
Affiliated university None
History
Founded 1868
Links
Website http://www.barnabashealth.org/Clara-Maass-Medical-Center.aspx
Lists Hospitals in New Jersey

In 1956 a new building was completed in Belleville, which is sometimes referred to as "The Hospital in the Park" due to its location opposite Branch Brook Park.[3] Founded in 1868 as the Newark German Hospital, Clara Maass is staffed by more than 700 physicians and 2,000 employees delivering care to more than 19,000 residents each year. As the first hospital in the United States to bear the name of a nurse as its corporate identity, Clara Maass Medical Center carries on a rich tradition of health care.

Clara Maass centers and services include the Women’s Health Center, Nuclear Medicine, The Cancer Center at Clara Maass, Diagnostic Cardiac Services including Cardiac Catheterization, Emergency Angioplasty and Rehabilitation, The Pain Management Center, The Joint & Spine Institute, a Vascular Center, Same Day Surgery, The Wound Center at Clara Maass, The Center for Sleep Disorders, The Bariatric Surgery Center, Rehabilitation Services, Comprehensive Ophthalmology Services, Maternity Services and Parent Education, Pediatrics, a state-of-the-art Emergency Department, Radiology services and community outreach programs. The staff of dedicated physicians, nurses, and health care professionals is committed to providing the highest quality of patient care services and health education to the community and the region.

History

Clara Louise Maass was born on June 28, 1876 in East Orange, NJ, the first of 10 children. Her parents, Hedwig and Robert Maass, were immigrants from Germany. Robert, who was of Dutch ancestry, worked in a hat factory in Orange. In 19th century Newark and its suburbs, hat manufacturing was an important industry.

When Clara was 11 or 12, the family moved to a farm on Sycamore Avenue in Livingston. Clara attended the Northfield School, a one-room schoolhouse. The Maasses, however, were not successful at farming, and after less than two years, the family moved back to East Orange. Robert Maass worked again as a hatter; he later opened a small grocery store. To help support the family, Clara worked as a mother's helper while she finished three years of high school.

At 15, she began working at the Newark Orphan Asylum. She received $10 a month for seven days a week of work. When Clara was 17, she entered the Christina Trefz Training School of Nurses at Newark German Hospital, only the fourth such nursing school at the time in New Jersey and the first in Newark. She graduated in 1895, after two years of arduous training. In 1898, at the age of 21, she was named head nurse at Newark German Hospital.

Also that year, she served a brief engagement as a contract nurse with the United States Army during the Spanish American War. Battle wounds proved to be less deadly than diseases such as yellow fever, typhoid fever, and malaria. Clara cared for soldiers at hospitals in Jacksonville, FL; Savannah, GA; and Santiago, Cuba. She was discharged in February 1899 and returned home.

The following November, she volunteered for service in the Philippine Islands, where the US Army was fighting. After seven months in the Philippines, she became ill and was sent home.

Clara volunteered in 1900 for work in Cuba in the campaign to control yellow fever, and received a telegram from Major William C. Gorgas to report immediately for duty.

By the time Clara returned to Cuba in 1900, Major Walter Reed's work on yellow fever had established the fact that the disease was carried by mosquitoes that had bitten infected humans. Reed's work was carried on by Major Gorgas of the US Army Medical Department, working in the military government of Cuba.

Departments and Centers

The Cancer Center

The Cancer Center at Clara Maass stands at the forefront of providing an extensive array of advanced cancer services. The cancer program continues to receive the prestigious accreditation by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer as a community hospital comprehensive cancer program.

The multidisciplinary approach to the treatment of cancer patients utilizes the expertise of medical oncologist, radiation oncologists, surgical oncologists, specialized nurses, dieticians and social workers. Board Certified oncologists and sub-specialists have extensive training and credentials from distinguished facilities across the country and offer patients access to the latest drugs, research and clinical trials.

The dedicated inpatient Oncology Unit and Outpatient Infusion Center is staffed by an experienced and compassionate team of oncology nurses, social workers and support staff. Quality nursing care is an integral part of the recovery and healing process. All nurses have advanced training and carry pertinent certifications including chemotherapy administration, medical-surgical, and oncology, which is accredited nationally by the Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation. In addition, a specialized nurse educator is on staff to provide assistance to patients and their families. The unit has a private VIP suite as well as a solarium and education resource area for patients and their families to utilize.

The Clara Maass Radiation Oncology Department offers patients a full array of services including Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) and Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT), Mammosite brachytherapy for breast cancer, high dose rate radiotherapy and radioactive seed implants for prostate cancer. State-of-the-art equipment enable physicians to map out precise treatment sites with millimeter accuracy, treating the cancer while sparing normal tissue. The Radiation Oncology Department was the first facility in New Jersey to obtain national accreditation by the American College of Radiation Oncology.

Diagnostic oncology services include closed and open MRI, CT scan, PET/CT, ultrasonography, early detection screenings, and stereotactic and CT-guided biopsy.

The surgical pathology team renders the diagnoses crucial to patient treatment, staging and care. The pathologists at CMMC are certified by the American Board of Pathology and have all completed additional Specialty Fellowships (Surgical Oncologic Pathology, Neuropathology and Cytology) at prestigious medical centers throughout the country. Diagnostic acumen is supplemented by special procedures including immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescent studies, In-Situ Hybridization, Flow Cytometry and Molecular Pathology.

Staff

Comprehensive Services

Cardiac Services

Adult Cardiac Services The most technologically advanced equipment is used to accurately and quickly diagnose and confirm suspected coronary disease. Clara Masss is a licensed adult cardiac catheterization facility, which allows cardiologists to coordinate all aspects of testing that may contribute to decisions regarding medical management or cardiovascular surgery referral for heart disease. Tests include routine EKGs, 24-hour holter monitoring, vascular studies, 2D Echo with Doppler & Color Flow, 64-Slice CT, stress echocardiograms, nuclear stress testing and transesophageal echocardiography.

Elective Angioplasty

An angioplasty is a procedure in which a small balloon is inserted to open a blocked artery to restore blood flow to the heart. Elective angioplasty procedures are now available at Clara Masss Medical Center.

Cardiac Rehabilitation

A supervised exercise/education program assisting individuals who have or have had heart attack, stable angina, valve surgery, coronary artery bypass, congestive heart failure, pacemaker, or heart transplant is also offered. The program strives to provide each participant with improvement in cardiovascular fitness, risk factor reduction, lifestyle modification and increased confidence to participate in safe daily activities. Patients and families are provided with education regarding recognition, prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease.

Pediatric Cardiac Services Clara Maass provides the highest level of cardiac care, providing diagnosis and management of a full spectrum of heart problems in infants, children and young adults. They recognize the value that parents and family have in helping children and young adults with heart problems, so a family-centered approach to care has been adopted.

Cardiac services consist of a variety of diagnostic techniques including cardiac consultation, EKG analysis, exercise and stress testing and state-of-the-art echocardiogram equipment.

For expectant parents with a family history of cardiovascular disease, Clara Maass Medical Center offers fetal echocardiogram testing and, if necessary, after the child is born observation and care in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs) is offered.

The Joint & Spine Institute

Annually, over 700,000 people undergo total joint replacement surgery. Primary candidates are individuals with chronic joint pain from arthritis that interferes with daily activities, walking, exercise, leisure, recreation, and work. The surgery aims to relieve pain, restore your independence, and return you to work and other daily activities.

Total hip replacement and total knee replacement patients typically recover quickly. Patients will walk and will be in exercise classes beginning the day after surgery. Generally, patients are able to return to driving in 2–4 weeks, dancing in 4–6 weeks and golf in 6–12 weeks.

Clara Maass Medical Center has implemented a comprehensive planned course of treatment. They believe that the patient plays a key role in promoting a successful recovery. The goal is to involve patients in their treatment through each step of the program.

Overview

The center is unique as it has a dedicated area within the hospital. Surgeries are scheduled Monday through Friday and patients typically return home after a three-night stay.

Features of the Program include:

The Wound Center

Since 1992, The Wound Center at Clara Maass has remained dedicated to caring for people with wounds that resist healing. At The Wound Center, an experienced team of physicians (podiatrists, vascular surgeons, infectious disease specialists, and plastic surgeons) and nurses versed in all areas of wound care work together to manage the most complicated wounds and expedite the healing process.

Lifestyle, environment and nutritional status play an important role in the body’s ability to heal. Each patient undergoes an assessment based on these factors to determine a personalized plan of care. Individualized treatment plans encourage the healing process while allowing patients the comfort of healing at home. Treatments prescribed by The Wound Center are likely to cure the non-healing wound of the average patient in six-to-eight weeks.

Treatments

The Wound Center uses the latest modalities and technologies to heal wounds. Human skin equivalents, growth factors, hydropolymers and hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) are just some of the treatments used with success.

Human skin equivalents are made from harvested cells and applied directly to venous ulcers and non-healing diabetic ulcers. Growth Factor enhances the healing process in a chronic non-healing wound. HBOT provides systemic oxygen to the open wound at a very high pressure, furthering the body's ability to speed the healing process.

Staff

The Wound Center staff, consisting of an expert comprehensive medical team, provides patients with the most effective treatment, resulting in faster healing.

Related Issues

Patients who are referred to The Wound Center often suffer from a variety of conditions including:

Awards and Accreditations

U.S. News & World Report

Ranked among the 50 Best Regional Hospitals—NY Metro Area—in six adult specialties: Cancer, Diabetes and Endocrinology, Gastroenterology, Geriatrics, Neurology and Neurosurgery, Urology

Becker’s Hospital Review

100 Hospitals With Great Heart Programs

HealthGrades

Leapfrog

Hospital Safety Score—A

Core Measures

New Jersey Department of Health-Hospital Performance Report

Recipient of the 2011 Joint Commission Top Performers on Key Quality Measures Award which recognizes top 15% performance on all four quality measure topics- Heart Attack, Heart Failure, Pneumonia and Surgical Care

Thompson- Reuters

Accreditations/Certifications

Joint Commission:

Other Accreditations/Certifications

Commission on Cancer - Tumor Registry Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Echocardiography Laboratories Accreditation

American Association for Respiratory Care

College of American Pathologists

American Association of Blood Banks

American College of Surgeons

Mammography Quality Standards Act

American College of Radiation Oncology

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine

Other Recognitions

Notes

  1. ↑ "Clara Maass Medical Center". Saint Barnabas Health Care System. Retrieved 2009-07-20.
  2. ↑ Lynn Wenzel & Carol J. Binkowski (2003). More Than Petticoats: Remarkable New Jersey Women. TwoDot. pp. 84–95. ISBN 0-7627-1272-4.
  3. ↑ "New Clara Maass Hospital to Provide area with 324-bed facilities". The Nutley Sun. August 9, 1956. Retrieved 2009-07-22. Known as "The Hospital in the Park", the new Clara Maass is located on a knoll in the center of a 17-acre site on the Newark-Belleville-Bloomfield boundaries on the westerly side of Franklin Avenue, opposite Branch Brook Park. It is now one-third complete. A seven-story building, costing an estimated $5 million, the new Clara Maass will be of fire-proof construction throughout. It is designed to proved the utmost in efficiency, service, and patient care. Its doors will be open to every race, creed, and color.

External links