St. Mary's completes expansion St. Mary's Hospital in Athens has completed a $40 million addition. The addition adds 84,000 square feet to the hospital and includes space for a newborn ICU, a family birthing center and a women's center with digital mammography and an MRI-guided breast biopsy system. The hospital expects about 2,400 babies to be delivered there in 2005. An endoscopy center, scheduled to open in November 2005, will add another 9,400 square feet to the hospital. In addition, 30,000 square feet of existing space is being renovated. MCG, Georgia DHR launch mental health initiative The MCG and the Georgia Department of Human Resources (DHR) are partnering to expand the state's pioneering program of enabling people in recovery from mental illness to help others recover. Georgia's public mental health system has employed people in recovery as certified peer support specialists since 2000. The new partnership enables MCG to work with DHR to evaluate the teaching and certification processes the state developed for peer support specialists. MCG also will develop curricula for medical students, and psychiatry and psychology residents, that expand the recovery emphasis. Expansion includes hiring a peer support specialist to work in the department. Atlanta Medical Center opens cancer pavilion Atlanta Medical Center opened a cancer pavilion dedicated to cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment. The pavilion is located across the street from Atlanta Medical's main campus. The center's resources include a clinic for lung, breast, prostate and colorectal cancer; outpatient treatment facilities; an American Cancer Society Hope Lodge Connection with 12 rooms for cancer patients and a caregiver; a resource library; and a medispa with a salon for cancer patients. 'HeLP' receives grant Healthcare Georgia Foundation recently awarded a substantial grant to support the Health Law Partnership (HeLP), a new initiative formed by Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, the Atlanta Legal Aid Society and Georgia State University College of Law to deliver on-site legal services to low-income patients and families. Created in 1999 as an independent, private foundation, Healthcare Georgia Foundation's mission is to advance the health of all Georgians and to increase access to affordable, quality healthcare for underserved individuals and communities. HeLP, which began last summer, is one of fewer than 20 programs of its kind in the country and is a model for medical and legal partnerships in the Southeast. This $100,000 grant is the first significant funding for this collaborative program and will support HeLP for a year. The grant funds will help underwrite an attorney and paralegal, which will provide the program with the capacity to serve at least 250 patient families each year. Technique to stop abnormal vessel growth Researchers at Augusta-based Medical College of Georgia (MCG) have found that a manmade protein with a tail of amino acids delivered to target cells can dramatically reduce blood vessel growth that obstructs vision or feeds a tumor. The approach, angiogenesis, delivers intraceptors that sequester VEGF, a linchpin protein needed to make blood vessels, says Dr. Balamurali K. Ambati, corneal specialist at the Medical College of Georgia. In a test tube as well as in animal models for corneal injury and melanoma, MCG researchers have reduced destructive blood vessel proliferation by up to two-thirds. Other angiogenesis inhibitors in use or under study target vascular endothelial growth factor after it has moved outside the cell, reducing new blood vessel growth by 30 percent to 50 percent. Grady Health receives $18 million gift for Hughes Spaulding Atlanta's Grady Health System received an $18 million donation from an anonymous donor to refurbish Hughes Spaulding Children's Hospital. The renovation is expected to cost $30 million. The Hughes Spaulding renovation is part of an agreement to bring the historic hospital under the management of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. Children's has raised $7 million toward the $30 million. The donor included the following stipulations: The funds are to be used only if the hospital can secure the full $30 million; Grady agrees to continue funding ongoing expenses related to training residents and fellows from the Morehouse School of Medicine and Emory University School of Medicine; and annual operating losses at the hospital should be supported by local and state government. Tift shortens ER visits Tifton's Tift Regional Medical Center installed a computer program to shorten an average ER visit by over an hour. Patient information is entered into the computer system, and the patient's status is displayed on large, flat-screen monitors. Nurses can view the monitors to see how long a patient has been waiting and whether his lab results are available. Houston Healthcare opens surgery center Warner Robins-based Houston Healthcare opened a $7.5 million, 17,242-square-foot outpatient surgery center at Houston Medical Center. The facility features three operating rooms, two endoscopy rooms, consultation areas, eight monitored recovery beds and a play area for pediatric patients. Surgeons will perform ENT, gynecological, ophthalmologic, orthopedic and general surgeries at the new facility. Southern Regional announces 12 'Legends' Riverdale-based Southern Regional Health System observed "Hospital Week" and "Nurses Week" in May, which included recognizing outstanding achievement and performance by physicians, nurses, employees and volunteers throughout the organization. Twelve individuals (shown above) were recognized as Southern Regional "Legends" who demonstrate excellence in all aspects of their jobs.

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