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As part of Community Impact's June Health Care Edition, read the latest news from several hospitals in and around Georgetown.
1. St. David’s Georgetown Hospital
The hospital opened a fifth operating room late last year. The 650-square-foot, $4.6 million surgical suite provides surgeons access to a range of robotic surgical platforms, including the Mako orthopedic robot used for knee and total hip replacements as well as da Vinci robots that assist general surgeries.
The fifth operating room will focus on general surgeries, such as hernia repairs, gallbladder and appendicitis procedures, and breast cancer services.
2. Baylor Scott & White Medical Center - Taylor
Patients now have access to a cardiologist each day of the week, with the addition of Dr. Bernard Gojer last fall. With nearly 40 years of experience, Gojer treats chest pain, shortness of breath, atrial fibrillation, congestive heart failure and a number of other cardiac conditions in both the clinic and hospital setting.
Gojer said there’s an ongoing shortage of surgeons in rural areas, adding the wait time to see a cardiologist in Taylor had grown.
3. Ascension Seton Williamson Hospital
Located in Round Rock, the hospital is expected to wrap up its $230 million expansion this fall.
The expansion includes a new 152,000-square-foot patient tower, along with another 100,000 square feet of renovations.
The patient tower will add another 160 beds to the hospital. Other improvements include an additional MRI, a new catheterization lab, an observation unit and an expanded emergency room.
4. Baylor Scott & White Medical Center - Round Rock
Baylor Scott & White began offering a new diagnostic test for lung conditions in January.
Robotic bronchoscopy is a lung cancer diagnostic tool that allows doctors to biopsy smaller lung nodules more accurately and with fewer complications, said Dr. Soumya Neravetla, a cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon.
Neravetla said the procedure uses computer-generated mapping and a camera to identify and diagnose lung cancer and benign growths.
5. St. David’s Round Rock Medical Center
Some Austin-area St. David’s HealthCare facilities are part of a first-ever trial of a new treatment for chronic kidney disease.
The St. David’s Round Rock Medical Center is one of four facilities conducting a trial in flexible perivascular wrap, which is an implantable device to improve the connection between an artery and a vein.
The wrap helps make the vein larger and stronger, so it can withstand repeated needles and blood flow required for dialysis.
6. Ascension Seton Cedar Park Hospital
Last summer, Ascension Seton took full ownership of Cedar Park Regional Medical Center.
Jamie Youssef, president and CEO of Ascension Texas, said at the time that adding Cedar Park to the company’s network of 14 hospitals in the Austin area will have benefits for both staff and patients.
“Look for modernization and technology, furthering patient care areas, additional access points, the ability to tie patients into a system of care if they have a need that may not be met locally,” Youssef said.
