What's New at Bryn Mawr Hospital

April 2011 Update Letter

Dear Friends,

Since its founding in 1893, Bryn Mawr Hospital and the community it serves have benefitted from a strong and enduring partnership. Our doctors, nurses, board members, administrators, volunteers and hospital staff are your neighbors. Babies whose great-great grandparents were born at Bryn Mawr are sleeping in our nursery. Our employees give countless hours of community service to local organizations. The gifts of grateful patients and friends sustain our financial health so we can continue to provide outstanding care.

Many liken Bryn Mawr Hospital’s position within the very fabric of the community to a family. I believe that to be true. I write to thank you for being part of that family and to bring you up to date on developments at your community hospital.

Recognizing teamwork
The annual rankings from Thomson Reuters released last month named Bryn Mawr Hospital among the nation’s Top 100 Teaching Hospitals. Winners are chosen from nearly 3,000 U.S. hospitals and recognized for their superior patient outcomes and operational performance. This award truly belongs to all our professional and support staff whose dedication to patient care excellence remains unsurpassed.

Also in March, three Main Line Health System Hospitals - Bryn Mawr, Lankenau and Paoli - received Magnet re-designation, the nation’s most prestigious accreditation for nursing. In Magnet-designated hospitals, nurses and staff work collaboratively, creating “forces of magnetism” that drive innovation, leadership and the highest standards of professionalism. Independent studies have verified that Magnet hospitals attract and retain the most highly qualified nurses, have lower mortality rates, higher patient satisfaction, and deliver better patient outcomes.

Well ahead in acute care services
Over 11,200 inpatient surgeries were performed at Bryn Mawr Hospital in 2010. We are recognized for our capabilities in general and orthopedic surgery as well as minimally invasive colon, gallbladder and prostate surgery, reflecting state-of-the-art clinical practices nationally.

Because of its central location, Bryn Mawr Hospital treats more heart attacks than other local hospitals. We treated over 1,500 patients in our interventional catheterization laboratory in 2010 and we were accredited in chest pain management through the Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care (SCPC), an international organization that certifies hospitals’ capability to appropriately assess, diagnose, and treat patients experiencing chest pain and possibly a heart attack. The goal is to reduce the time from onset of symptoms to diagnosis and treatment, thereby preserving the integrity of the heart muscle.

Our commitment to quality and safety
Today as never before, hospitals are under intense pressure to ensure that the care they deliver meets the highest standards of safety and quality. Creating and maintaining a reliable culture of safety is a difficult, complex and never-ending process but one that all the Main Line Health hospitals embrace as a core value. Living it depends on individuals who understand what is expected of them and who perform their work with professionalism and accountability on systems that incorporate and promote safe design. I am very proud of Bryn Mawr Hospital’s record in this area and pledge our unwavering commitment to continually improve our performance.

Looking to the future
We are progressing on our strategic partnership with Thomas Jefferson University Hospital to advance the care of patients suffering from stroke.  Bryn Mawr Hospital is embarking on a neuro-interventional program, in partnership with physicians from Jefferson.  Bryn Mawr Hospital will be the center for this advanced care within the Main Line Health System.

To support this, we will be constructing a fourth interventional catheterization lab specially equipped to provide a complete spectrum of minimally invasive services for the diagnosis and treatment of patients with vascular problems related to the brain and spinal cord. In the past, certain conditions that would have required open surgery such as aneurysms, vascular malformations, and tumors of the head, brain, neck and spine can now be considered for a minimally invasive treatment using an endovascular approach to reach the problem.

Bryn Mawr Hospital’s stroke team will be supported by Jefferson neurosurgeons around the clock to provide this service when the new catheterization lab opens in 2012.

An ounce of prevention
While Bryn Mawr Hospital remains focused on delivering the most advanced medicine to treat and cure illness and injury, we also recognize the important role we can and should play in prevention and disease management. Going forward, our mission summons us to be stewards of our community’s health through wellness and prevention programs that give you the tools you need to take care of your health, understand your options and make the best healthcare choices for you and your family. To learn more, visit www.brynmawrhospital.org and click “FindWellness Info”.

The power of community
I am frequently asked how Bryn Mawr Hospital is adapting to the rapidly evolving healthcare environment as healthcare reform legislation begins to take effect. It’s an important question about a complicated and often confusing issue.

Without question, the healthcare arena is in profound transition. Consumers and providers alike are struggling to understand what all the changes mean and how best to address them. It is my belief that while daunting, the new realities also present unprecedented opportunities, as they have throughout our history.

In 1893, when Dr. Gerhard persuaded a group of influential civic leaders to invest in his plan to build a hospital to serve Philadelphia’s western suburbs, the country was in the midst of a depression. During the stock market crash of 1929, hospital leaders, putting the needs of the community first, converted the “old” hospital (now the Gerhard Building) to a nursing school and built a new, bigger hospital next to it. In 1990, in the throes of a recession, the west wing expansion was completed. More recently, a major renovation and expansion of our Emergency Department was accomplished with 75% of the cost covered by philanthropy.

Amid the forces of change that have transformed our campus, indeed every aspect of healthcare locally and nationally, Bryn Mawr Hospital and the Main Line Health System remain committed and focused on meeting the health care needs of our community. We work hard to know our patients, to earn their trust, to be good stewards of their health and of their charitable gifts. They in turn tell us how much they appreciate the personal, compassionate care they receive from their nurses, the dedication of their doctors, the friendly smile of a volunteer.

Family, partnership, community – these enduring bonds have and will hopefully continue to keep you, and Bryn Mawr Hospital, well ahead together.

I appreciate this opportunity to share our latest news with you and to thank you for your ongoing interest and support. Please be assured of our commitment to continue earning both.

Sincerely,

Andrea F. Gilbert
President, Bryn Mawr Hospital

PS: Despite an uncertain economy and the many worthy organizations in our area that depend upon philanthropy, I deeply appreciate the willingness of so many to continue supporting Bryn Mawr Hospital as often and as generously as they can. To all our loyal donors, I extend heartfelt thanks and renew assurances that every gift is gratefully received and wisely invested in our highest priority or other donor-directed needs.