To read more about the Brookwood Cancer Center's Three-Year Approval with Commendation click here.

Birmingham, AL –  On March 28, Brookwood Medical Center held a dedication ceremony of its new Patricia S. Bendall Art Gallery. 

Mrs. Bendall began working at Brookwood Medical Center in 1979 as Coordinator of Volunteer Services until her retirement in 2003.    While working at Brookwood, she also served as the curator of the Brookwood Art Gallery.  Due to various construction projects in recent years, the art gallery was removed from its original location in 2003.  

Friends, family and former co-workers attended the dedication ceremony held in the hospital’s main lobby, the art gallery’s new location.  “It is an honor to have Pat’s name associated with such a Brookwood tradition,” says Garry Gause, President and Chief Executive Officer of Brookwood Medical Center.  “Pat played an integral role in the history of our hospital, and having this new art gallery named in her honor will be a welcome reminder of her wonderful work and dedication to Brookwood and its Auxilliary.”

Before her career as the Director of Volunteer Services at Brookwood, Mrs. Bendall studied art in Atlanta for a year and locally with Mary Lou Cost and Fay Hutto.  She also took watercolor classes from Richard Brough of Virginia, when he was invited to hold workshops in Birmingham.  She is a member of the Birmingham Museum of Art. 

A native of Mississippi, Pat received her degree from the University of Mississippi with a double major in English and Speech with a minor in Art. As a child, she became interested in art from her paternal grandmother, who was a self-taught artist in North Mississippi. 

The art gallery’s inaugural showing will feature Mrs. Bendall’s works in watercolor, acrylics and oils, which will be on display until the end of April.  Other area artists will be featured in the coming months, and will be available for purchase in the Brookwood Auxilliary offices.

The campaign, which consists of television, print and outdoor advertising, was produced locally by DavisDenny Advertising and Related Services.

In addition, the hospital received a merit award for its Community Report publication, produced by the Boner Group based in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Judges for the Healthcare Advertising Awards consisted of a national panel of healthcare marketers, advertising creative directors, advertising professionals, healthcare consultants, marketing professors and the editorial board of Healthcare Marketing Report.

The Healthcare Advertising Awards is the oldest, largest and most prestigious gealthcare advertising awards competition. A record three thousand-nine hundred entries were submitted from every state in the country and multiple foreign countries.   Healthcare Marketing Report is the nation’s leading publication covering health marketing with over 5,000 readers each month.

Ms. Dickerson was also a plenary session speaker at the International Lactation Consultants Associations conference held in Philadelphia in July of this year.

In addition to being a registered nurse and holding a master’s degree in nursing, Dickerson is also a board-certified lactation consultant. She teaches breastfeeding educator courses and speaks on a wide variety of topics at conferences.

Birmingham, Alabama . . . Brookwood Medical Center CEO Garry L. Gause is pleased to announce the promotion of Vincent L. McVittie to the position of Chief Development Officer.  Mr. McVittie will assume his new responsibilities effective immediately.

Mr. McVittie has been with Brookwood since June of 2002, where he held the position of Vice President of Operations and had responsibility for the cardiovascular, neurosciences, orthopedics and physical therapy product lines within the 586-bed hospital.  

Mr. McVittie’s new responsibilities as chief development officer will include all business development activities including strategic planning, physician recruitment and retention, marketing and public relations, outpatient services, and overseeing building and leasing of Brookwood’s professional office buildings. 

“Vince has been a real asset to Brookwood since he joined us in 2002,” says Mr. Gause.  “He brings a sharp eye and understanding for strategic planning and development to a very competitive market.  He has a wealth of healthcare experience, which covers the spectrum  - from acute care and specialty hospital management, to large physician practice administration, to extensive work with managed providers.”

Originally from Orange County, California, Mr. McVittie received his Bachelor of Science in Marketing Management from California Polytechnic University in Pomona.  He received his MBA from the Peter F. Drucker Management Center at Claremont Graduate School in Claremont, California. 

Mr. McVittie’s health care work experience has included a CEO position at Southwest Cardiology Associates in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Vice President of Business Development for the Heart Hospital of New Mexico, and as Vice President of Sales and Marketing for ForHealth, Inc., a venture-capitalized start-up firm which provides healthcare to elderly in long-term care settings.  He also held development positions with health insurance firms including Kaiser Permanente and WellPoint Health. 

Get With the Guildelines Program

New initiative helps close treatment gap in secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease and primary prevention of stroke

Birmingham, AL…July 29, 2004 – Brookwood Medical Center announced it has received recognition from the American Heart Association as a Get With the Guidelines – Coronary Artery Disease hospital.  The recognition signifies that Brookwood is participating in the American Heart Association Get With the Guildelines program.  The quality improvement initiative is designed to reduce the risk of recurrent heart attacks by helping hospital staff follow proven evidence based guidelines and procedures while coronary patients are in their care.

Under the program, coronary patients are started on aggressive risk reduction therapies such as cholesterol-lowering drugs, aspirin, ACE inhibitors and beta-blockers in the hospital and receive smoking cessation and weight management counseling and referrals for cardiac rehabilitation before being discharged.  These standards of care are outlined in the American Heart Association / American College of Cardiology secondary prevention guidelines for patients with coronary artery disease.

“The full implementation of secondary prevention guidelines is a critical step in saving the lives of coronary patients,” said Kenneth A. LaBresh, M.D., member of the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines Steering Committee.  “The American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines program is designed to help hospitals like Brookwood Medical Center implement appropriate evidenced based guidelines and protocols that will reduce the number of recurrent events and death in these patients.”

According to the American Heart Association, more than 450,000 people suffer recurrent heart attacks each year.  Statistics also show that within six years after a heart attack, about 22 percent of men and 46 percent of women will be disabled with heart failure. 

Within one year of an attack, 25 percent of men and 38 percent of women will die.

 Research indicates that when patients are discharged from the hospital on appropriate medications such as aspirin, beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors and lipid-lowering medicines, a patients’ risk of a second event is reduced and lives are saved.

“Brookwood Medical Center is dedicated to making our cardiac unit among the best in the country, and implementing the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines program will help us accomplish this by making it easier for our professionals to improve the long-term outcome for our cardiac patients,” said Garry Gause, chief executive officer for Brookwood.

Get With The Guidelines is designed to help Brookwood’s staff develop and implement a secondary prevention guidelines process.  The program includes quality-improvement measures such as care maps, discharge protocols, standing orders and measurement tools.  Designed to be quick and efficient, these guideline tools will enable Brookwood to improve the quality of care it provides cardiac patients, save lives and ultimately, reduce healthcare costs by lowering the recurrence of heart attacks. 

The American Heart Association program, developed with support from an unrestricted educational grant from Merck & Co., Inc., is being implemented in hospitals around the country.  For more information on Get With The Guidelines, visit www.americanheart.org. and type in “Get With The Guidelines” into the search box.

Brookwood Medical Center Names New Chief Nursing Officer

Birmingham, AL . . . Brookwood Medical Center President and Chief Executive Officer Garry L. Gause is pleased to  announce  the promotion of Jacquelyn Y. Martinek to the position of Chief Nursing Officer.  Ms. Martinek will assume her new responsibilities effective immediately.

Ms. Martinek has been employed by Brookwood Medical Center since 1979, where she began her career as a staff nurse.  She has worked her way through positions and promotions at Brookwood including Labor and Delivery Supervisor, Women’s Surgical Services Supervisor and Head Nurse, Director of OG/GYN and Neonatal Nursing, and has most recently served as the Vice President of Women’s and Oncology Services. 

“Jackie’s dedication to our patients, our physicians and our employees is inspiring to everyone around her,” says Mr. Gause.   “Her enthusiasm for the work we do here is contagious.  She is a great example of the hard work and loyalty that makes our hospital such a success.”

Ms. Martinek’s work philosophy has taken her far at Brookwood Medical Center.   She states, “My day-to-day focus, whether functioning in a clinical or an administrative setting, is to remember that the patient is the reason I am involved in healthcare.  The expectation I have for myself and for my peers, is to manage every situation with an ethical, honest approach to set the standard we expect from our physicians and staff.” 

Ms. Martinek received her Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from the University of Alabama in Birmingham, and her Master of Science degree in Health Services Administration from the University of St. Francis.  

Ms. Martinek is involved in many professional organizations, including the Birmingham Regional Organization for Nurse Executives (BRONE), the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetrical and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN), and she is a graduate of the Momentum Women’s Leadership Program.  Her community involvement includes her board membership for the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Alabama, and she served as the co-chairman of the 2004 March of Dimes WalkAmerica campaign.

Thinking about having a baby?

The decision to have a baby can be the most wonderful decision you’ll ever make. It’s a time of excitement and perhaps apprehension. You want to make sure you’re as prepared for this new life as possible.

There are steps you can take even before you get pregnant that may help ensure a healthy baby. You’ll want to start with scheduling a preconception appointment with your doctor. This visit will give your doctor an overview of your current health status plus your medical and family history.

Your doctor will want to know is whether you’re immune to certain infections such as rubella. If you aren’t immune, your doctor may recommend that you get the rubella vaccine at least three months before you become pregnant. During the fall, you should talk to your doctor about a flu shot.

Your current health status including conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma and lupus, will play a part in your pregnancy. You and your doctor should take steps to make sure these conditions are under control before you become pregnant.

You and your partner will also need to discuss any inherited conditions such as sickle cell anemia, cystic fibrosis and muscular dystrophy. Genetic counseling may be recommended for certain ethnic groups and others with inherited disorders in their family history.

There are changes you can make to your lifestyle before you become pregnant to make certain you are as healthy as possible. Some of the changes to consider are:

• Stop smoking. Smoking decreases a woman’s chance of getting pregnant, and may reduce a man’s sperm count. Smoking during pregnancy may result in a lower birth weight for the baby. Women who smoke have a higher incidence of miscarriages and stillbirths.
• Reduce or eliminate alcohol consumption. Babies who are exposed to alcohol before birth may have mental retardation, learning disabilities and behavioral problems. Like smoking, alcohol consumption may reduce your ability to conceive and may affect both the quality and quantity of a man’s sperm.
• Eat Healthy and Exercise. Adopting healthy eating habits and exercising can help you get in shape for your pregnancy. If you are overweight, your doctor may want you to lose weight before you become pregnant. Women who are thinking about getting pregnant should start taking folic acid supplements that help protect the baby against neural tube defects such as spina bifida. Talk to your doctor about how much folic acid you should be taking.

To learn more, plan to attend one of Brookwood's Preconception Classes.  To register call 205-877-8800 or 1-888-BROOKWOOD

Cindy Briner and the Pneumonia Performance Improvement Team Bring Home AQAF Award

Brookwood Medical Center has received Alabama Quality Assurance Foundation’s (AQAF) Excellence in Healthcare Quality Award for the hospital’s work with Community Acquired Pneumonia. The program is designed to recognize organizations and individuals in the state who have made significant contributions to the enhancement of healthcare in Alabama.

Cindy Briner headed up a team consisting of doctors and other Brookwood staff members. The team’s goal was to improve the care of the CAP patient by implementing antibiotic therapy within 4 hours of hospital arrival, early oxygen assessment, early ambulation, pneumonia immunization assessment and administration as indicated.

Cindy received Brookwood’s award at an AQAF luncheon held in honor of this year’s recipients.

Other team members were Dr. Michael Reymann, Dr. Gus DuBois, Dr. Leah Daggett, Melissa Murphree, Melinda Halbert, Lisa McEarchen, Susan Atkinson, and Jaime Renfro.

Colon Cancer

Cancer takes many forms, and different types of the disease behave differently. Susceptibility to various forms of cancer may be affected by such factors as age, race, sex, heredity, diet and personal lifestyle. That’s certainly true with cancers of the colon and rectum, which kill more than 50,000 Americans each year.

Age is clearly a significant risk factor for colorectal cancer. The disease is more common in people over 50, but bear in mind that colorectal cancer can occur at younger ages.

Then there’s the matter of what we eat. Colorectal cancer seems to be associated with diets that are high in fat and calories and low in fiber. Many doctors encourage people to avoid foods containing lots of fat — especially animal fat — and instead eat lots of fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

Family history also may be a factor. If you have close relatives (parent or siblings) who have contracted colorectal cancer, your risk of developing the disease is doubled. And there are genetic and hereditary factors that account for a small percentage of colorectal cancers.

People who are not physically active have an increased risk of developing colorectal cancer. The American Cancer Society recommends that to improve health, people engage in moderate exercise for at least 30 minutes, four to five times a week.

Your lifestyle choices may also affect your chances of developing colorectal cancer. Overweight people are at greater risk of developing the disease, as are people who smoke.

In assessing your chances of developing the disease, doctors may weigh your personal medical history. People who have already had colon or rectal cancer, as well as some other kinds of cancers, have a heightened risk of developing the disease. Likewise, people who have been diagnosed and treated for polyps — which can be a precursor to the disease — are more likely to develop colorectal cancer.

People with a history of chronic inflammatory conditions such as ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s Disease have an increased risk of colon cancer. For such patients, doctors often recommend that screening start earlier and should be done more frequently.

Having one or more of these risk factors doesn’t mean a person will develop colorectal cancer. And knowing the risk factors is only part of the equation. Patients who think they may be at higher risk of the disease should ask their doctors about when they should begin checking for colorectal cancer, what tests they should have, and how often.

There are several ways of screening for colorectal cancer:

—A digital rectal examine (or DRE) involves a doctor inserting a gloved finger into the rectum to feel for abnormalities.

—A fecal occult blood test, which involves taking small samples of feces, may reveal hidden blood in the stool, which can be an indication of polyps or more serious problems.

—A sigmoidoscopy involves using a lighted instrument to examine the rectum and lower colon for signs of cancer or other disease.

—A colonoscopy is a procedure that is similar to the sigmoidoscopy, but capable of examining the entire colon. Certain minor surgical procedures, such as biopsy and removing polyps, can also be performed using this device.

—A double-contrast barium enema involves a series of x-rays of the colon and rectum, performed after the patient is given a barium enemy. The barium solution outlines the colon and rectum on the x-rays.

Whatever screening approach is chosen, it’s important to know that early detection and treatment may make a difference in the eventual outcome of colorectal cancer. The five-year survival rate is about 90 percent for people whose colorectal cancer is treated in an early stage, before it has spread, but only about a third of colorectal cancers are found that soon. The further the cancer has progressed, the lower the odds are for survival. For people whose cancer has spread to distant body parts, the five-year survival rate is only eight percent.

 For patients with a hereditary risk of colon cancer, Brookwood offers counseling and genetic testing. For more information or for physician referral call 877-8800 or 1-888-Brookwood.