Northern Westchester Hospital - Northern Westchester Hospital

Northern Westchester Hospital (NWH) is a not-for-profit, 245-bed, all private room facility in Mount Kisco, New York serving residents of Northern Westchester, Putnam County, and Southern Dutchess County, as well as parts of Fairfield County, CT. Since its founding in 1916, the Northern Westchester Hospital community has been defined as the ten towns and villages in the immediate radius surrounding the hospital. The hospital’s broader ‘Region’ includes those additional towns located to the north into Putnam County, New York and to the East towards the Hudson River border of Westchester Cou nty, including west Fairfield County, Connecticut.

With more than 700 physicians, Northern Westchester Hospital provides a wide range of patient-centered services through its Emergency Department, Women's Imaging Center, Cancer Treatment and Wellness Center, Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Clinical trials program, and Gamma Knife center. Northern Westchester Hospital is a designated training and case observation center for the da Vinci Surgical System in colorectal surgery. NWH breast surgeons provide Microvascular Surgery using the Novadaq SPY Imaging System. A number of bariatric surgical procedures are performed, including Stomach Intestinal Pylorus-Sparing Surgery (SIPS).

History

Opening its doors in 1916, Northern Westchester Hospital consisted of 15 beds and 6 primary physicians. A committee composed of William Sloane, Moses Taylor, Joseph C. Baldwin, Jr., Edwin G. Merrill, John Henry Towne, Winthrop Cowdin, Cornelius R. Agnew, and Hiram E. Manville had been set up to organize the hospital and its creation. On May 8, 1916 the first hospital meeting was held, giving way to the historic election of the hospitals first president, William Sloane, and its first board of directors. Erected on a 2 ½ acre parcel of land, and filling 12 out of the initial 15 beds within its first day, NWH would soon prove to be a vital part of the community.

In the early 1920s the population growth of Westchester and upstate New York made it a necessity for NWH to expand. Beginning in April 1925 the hospital would expand into a 50-room facility to meet the needs of a more sophisticated healthcare system, adding with it a state of the art radiology facility. As the community continued to grow a new construction initiative would commence in 1958. Consisting of a new 3 story wing, the project would be completed in 1961 adding 89 new beds. The hospital would see its last major expansion for the era in 1973. The opening of the DeWitt Wallace Pavilion added 259 new beds, allowing NWH to enter a new age of patient-centered care. Following the expansion, the hospital would narrow its focus on acquiring the latest technology to better serve the community and region. In 1989 the first Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Digital subtraction angiography (DSA) were installed, setting precedent for the hospitals cutting edge technology for years t o come.

Northern Westchester Hospital joined the North Shore-LIJ Health System in January 2015. In order to continue delivering a high level of care for its communities, the NWH Board of Trustees decided that NWH needed an innovative partner who could provide the scale and resources to capitalize on the changes underway in the healthcare industry. As one of the Nation's largest health systems, North Shore-LIJ has been committed to the important role that regional hospitals have in delivering quality healthcare to their local communities. President and CEO Michael J. Dowling sites reasons for the interest in this partnership with NWH: "NWH is a teaching hospital for patient-centered care, and Northern Westchester has consistently ranked among the top five hospitals in New York State and number one in the Hudson Valley for patient satisfaction. Northern Westchester Hospital modernized its surgical services facility in April 2016 to include six new operating rooms and 13 priv ate pre- and post-anesthesia care beds.

Northern Westchester Hospital celebrated its centennial year in 2016 with various community and staff events, such as partnerships with area historical societies, community walks, Board of Trustees and neo-natal intensive care unit reunions, and employee and community galas.

Medical specialties

As a comprehensive acute care hospital, NWH provides patient-center care in the following services:

• Orthopedic and Spine Institute: Employs the most current minimally invasive and arthroscopic techniques to provide complete orthopedic and spine surgical care. The OSI incorporates Bio-absorbable implants for sports medicine surgeryâ€" These are usually constructed of plastic and are designed to be absorbed by the body without producing an immune response. The orthopedic and Spine Institute is also an active user of anterior hip replacement.
• The Breast Institute: Provides a multidisciplinary approach to the surgical treatment of breast cancer. This approach is referred to as “Aesthetic Oncology” by the Breast Institute. Aesthetic Oncology combines advances in cancer surgery and breast reconstruction surgery to reach the optimal aesthetic and clinical outcome. This includes the use of intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT), microvascular surgery for breast conservation, nipple-sparing and DIEP Flap or PAP Flap procedures, and Gamma Knife for metastatic brain cancer.
• Cancer Treatment and Wellness Center: A patient centered healing environment for those receiving chemotherapy, infusion services, radiation therapy, and gamma knife procedures.
• Clinical Trials Program: Offering treatments and clinical trials in Bariatric Surgery, Brain Tumors, Breast Cancer, Lung Cancer, Lymphoma, Prostate Cancer, and Strokes.
• Surgical Weight Loss: The Surgical Weight Loss program and SIPS at NWH offers laparoscopic lap band, gastric bypass and gastric sleeve surgery. NWH bariatric surgeons perform duodenal switch and revision surgeries. Screening and preparatory tests prior to surgery include; psychological evaluation, dietician evaluation, Upper Gastrointestinal Testing (UGI), Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD), and Electrocardiogram (EKG).
• Institute for Robotic and Minimally Invasive Surgery: NWH uses the da Vinci Surgical System to treat a wide range of conditions across numerous disciplines including: Urology, Gynecology, Gynecologic oncology, and General surgery.
• Cardio-Pulmonary Rehabilitation: Structured rehabilitation designed to manage a wide range of existing conditions for Smokers / Ex-Smokers and those who have Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), Emphysema, Asthma, Pulmonary Fibrosis, Interstitial lung disease, Bronchiectasis, and Cystic Fibrosis.
• Wound Care & Hyperbaric Medicine: Providing wound care for chronic non-healing wounds related to various conditions such as diabetes and obesity, post-surgical non-healing wounds, and traumatic wounds. Wound care therapies available to patients include hyperbaric oxygen therapy or HBOT. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is provided in a multi-seat hyperbaric chamber. HBOT is not only prescribed for patients with wounds, such as diabetic foot ulcers or venous ulcers, but is also an effective treatment for such conditions as: delayed radiation injury, compromised grafts and flaps, necrotizing soft tissue infections, intracranial abscess, and severe anemia.

Awards and accreditation

Northern Westchester Hospital has received the following awards and recognition:

• The first and only hospital in New York to receive the highest 5-Star rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for patient satisfaction. The HCAHPS Survey is a national standardized survey of patients’ perceptions of their hospital care that was implemented by CMS. This 5-Star rating reflects survey results dated July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014 and can be viewed online at www.medicare.gov/hospitalcompare.
• Best Hospitals 2015-16: U.S. News & World Report lists Northern Westchester Hospital among the “Best Regional Hospitals 2015-16” in Gynecology and Orthopedics
• Magnet Recognition Program: Recognition for excellence in nursing service and the overall quality of care provided to patients and the community
• Designated Planetree Patient-Centered Care Hospital
• Recognized by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organization
• Breast Imaging Center of Excellence by the American College of Radiology
• New York State Department of Health Designated Stroke Center

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