BRINGING HDTV FROM YOUR HOME TO THE HOSPITAL
POTTSTOWN MEMORIAL MEDICAL CENTER UNVEILS NEW STATE-OF-THE-ART ENDOSCOPY UNIT

High definition television (HDTV) is making its way from the home to the hospital.  Now, Pottstown Memorial Medical Center (PMMC) is among the first hospitals in the area to introduce high definition technology, as part of the opening of a new Endoscopy Unit to meet the demand for colon cancer and gastrointestinal screenings and other diagnostic procedures.

The new Endoscopy Unit was relocated from the seventh floor of the hospital to the Outpatient Care Pavilion on the 2nd  floor to make it more convenient for patients and their families and includes three GI procedure rooms and one bronchoscopy room, which houses new bronchoscopy video equipment, and a 10-bay pre- and post-recovery area.  Family members may accompany the patient to the unit and wait with them until the procedure begins, and then visit them once the procedure is completed.

The state-of-the-art unit was designed to meet the individualized needs of our patients,” said John Kirby, COO, PMMC. “The layout of the facility is perfect. We have made the center as patient and family friendly as possible. Our goal is to provide the highest quality of medical care in the safest environment, and at the same time, alleviate any fears or stresses a patient may have about a test or procedure.”

Serving both inpatients and outpatients, the unit has the most technologically advanced equipment available for a wide range of diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopic and bronchoscopic procedures. These include: bronchoscopy, upper GI (endoscopy), colonoscopy, endoscopic retrograde cholangeo pancreatography (ERCP), and esophogeal motilities.

All procedures are performed by board-certified gastroenterologists and pulmonologists.
“The new facility and latest technology enables us to offer our patients the most reliable testing
methods in an environment that has been purposely designed to ensure the patient’s visit is as comfortable as possible,” explained Michael Pawlowsky, D.O., PMMC gastroenterologist, who was trained on the new equipment. “The Olympus system allows our physician’s to see a greater level of detail during procedures which will enhance patient diagnosis.”

More than 148,000 cases of colorectal cancer (CRC) are expected to be diagnosed this year, and more than 56,000 people will die from the disease, according to the American Cancer Society. CRC is the second cause of cancer death in the United States after lung cancer. The ACS recommends that beginning at age 50, both men and women should be screened for colon and rectal cancer.  People with CRC risk factors, such as a personal history of CRC or adenomatous polyps or a strong family history of CRC or polyps, should talk to their doctor about starting CRC screening earlier and/or undergoing screening more often.

With the building of the new unit, and March being Colorectal Cancer Awareness month, Dr. Pawlowsky hopes residents in the area will be encouraged to schedule routine colonoscopies to screen for colorectal cancer. “Colonoscopies save lives; removing pre-cancerous growths or polyps in the colon or rectum prevents the development of cancer,” added Dr. Pawlowsky.
The new facility features an endoscopy system utilizing Olympus High Definition (HDTV) and Narrow Band Imaging™, allowing for unprecedented image quality. Compared to conventional systems, high-definition endoscopy provides doctors with sharper images and better contrast, which in turn may help them to better observe lesions in the colon.  As a result, doctors may provide their patients with more accurate diagnoses.

This latest construction effort is part of an $18 million dollar construction project underway at PMMC.