Health briefs
Advertiser Staff
Heart center opens on Maui
The new $5.2 million Heart & Vascular Center of Maui will allow physicians to perform procedures that previously required patients to fly off island.
The center is at Maui Memorial Medical Center, and was paid for through donations, including $200,000 from the Maui Memorial Foundation.
Some of the procedures that will be done at the new center are echocardiography, stress testing, cardiac catheterizations, intra-aortic balloon pumps, peripheral vascular angioplasty, pacemaker insertions and electrophysiology studies.
Other large donors include the Fred Baldwin Memorial Foundation, Alexander & Baldwin Charitable Foundation, First Hawaiian Bank Foundation, Atherton Family Foundation, The Robles Foundation, Hawaiian Electric Industries, Bank of Hawai'i, The Moss Foundation, Kapalua Maui Charities, Emcare and individual donors E. Aanenson, Janet Holdcroft and the late Ann Dolder.
The new center is adorned with a series of 40 underwater photography murals created and donated by Maui artist Cindy Levy.
Researcher wins award
Dr. Randal Wada, medical director of the Hawai'i Bone Marrow Donor Registry and a cancer researcher, has received an award for innovation from the National Bone Marrow Program.
The Cancer Research Center of Hawai'i, where he works as a researcher, said Wada was recognized for developing a system that helps sift through donor data to identify those most likely to be called for a bone-marrow transplant.
"This process improves operational efficiency by focusing staff time on donors who have a relatively high chance to be called as a preliminary match," Wada said.
As of May, 63 donors from Hawai'i's registry have been identified as potential matches for patients.
Work continues on Straub clinic
Patients at Straub Clinic and Hospital and drivers on King Street may have noticed that the medical facility has begun a renovation of its front entrance.
For patients, hospital staff said the daily work means they should arrive 15 minutes earlier than usual because of possible traffic backups.
The hospital said the work began Feb. 9 and is expected to continue through early May. The front entrance will be redesigned and expanded. Demolition work will be done on the front entrance between 4 and 10 p.m.
After the first phase is complete, work will begin on the hallways, gift shop and pharmacy area with the entire face-lift scheduled to be complete by the end of June.
Castle Medical recognized
Castle Medical Center recently won recognition for participating in the American Heart Association's "Get with the Guidelines" program, which works to reduce repeat heart attacks among patients.
Hospital officials said the program helps hospital staff follow procedures and therapies with heart patients designed to prevent return visits for the same problem. The program includes drug treatment with cholesterol-lowering drugs, aspirin, quit-smoking plans, weight-management counseling and referrals for cardiac rehabilitation after they get out of the hospital.
Castle said program projections indicate as many as 80,000 lives could be saved annually if the guidelines were widely adopted.
