Hospital receives $1 million for minimally invasive surgery center

by Ralph Schwarz
Niagara Wheatfield Tribune, November 4, 2004

A $1 million state grant will help Mount St. Mary Hospital and Health Center to expand its interventional radiology services and create the Center of Minimally Invasive Surgery.

The new center, which will be located inside the Imaging Center at the hospital’s Lewiston campus, will specialize in minimally invasive and targeted treatments with the help of imaging guidance. The procedures would replace open surgery and involve no large incisions, less pain and shorter recovery times for patients.

“This is another significant advance for Mount St. Mary’s to provide quality health care,” said Angelo Calbone, president and CEO of the hospital, in a press conference last Monday. “In health care, it is widely known that with such high technology specialty services, it is critical to have adequate volume to provide the highest quality of care.”

Evolution Of Medical Care

Minimally invasive surgery, or interventional radiology, represents one of the fastest growing areas of medicine. By using their expertise in reading X-rays, ultrasound and other medical images, interventional radiologists guide small instruments, like catheters, through blood vessels or other pathways to treat diseases through the skin. The procedures carry typically less risk than conventional open surgeries and can be performed within a short amount of time, often without requiring the patient to stay overnight.

“It’s a real evolution of medical care,” said Dr. Frederick Poynton, who will lead the new center. “We use small stents, which is a small mesh tube, to open blocked arteries in legs, for example, through small incisions in the groin or flank. By using minimally invasive surgery, we can save lives by stopping arteries from bleeding and avoid surgical disasters an open surgery could cause.”

Poynton, who joined Mount St. Mary’s since 1997, is currently the only full-time interventional radiologist exclusively serving Niagara County.

“We are now going to be able to provide him with the state-of-the-art equipment that will enhance his ability to impact the quality of life for those in need of these vascular procedures,” Calbone said.

Maziarz, DelMonte Lobby

Parts of the $1 million state grant came from State Sen. George Maziarz and state Assemblywoman Francine DelMonte who secured a total of $734,000 for the new center. Hospital officials are also currently involved in discussions with the office of Gov. George Pataki to receive the remainder of the grant.

“This is a significant investment in health care for the residents in Niagara County,” Maziarz said. “It is also important that we provide doctors with the tools to keep up with an ever-changing technology.”

DelMonte sees in the new Center for Minimally Invasive Surgery an important service for Niagara County residents.

“In today’s environment, health care providers have to carve their niches to appeal to the community,” she said. “I wish Mount St. Mary’s all the best to provide a service that is currently not available in this region.”

Calbone credited both Maziarz and DelMonte for their involvement in securing parts of the state grant.

“The state of New York has recognized that what we are doing at Mount St. Mary’s Hospital in interventional radiology is so unique and so important that it has stepped forward to assist us in its expansion,” he said. “This investment will allow us to significantly enhance our services.”

Expansion Of Services

Although Mount St. Mary’s has been providing interventional radiology services since 1997, the new center will allow physicians to utilize the latest technology in minimally invasive surgery and eventually expand from in-patient to out-patient services.

“We are very excited,” said Dr. Brian Block, the hospital’s chief of Radiology. “This center allows us to go to the forefront of minimally invasive surgery. It will be a first-of-its-king service in Niagara County and will address a major health need.”

Construction for the center will begin later this month and involves the transformation of already existing space in the hospital’s Imaging Center to house the new equipment. The project is expected to be completed by next spring.