While COVID-19 gripped Milford Regional Healthcare System and our entire community, Milford Regional leadership was also mindful of the important program and service initiatives that were in motion for 2020. In addition to opening Milford Regional’s Level 1B Nursery and new pharmacy expansion, a wide array of programs and services were shepherded to fruition to ensure that our community’s healthcare needs will continue to be met far into the future.
Level 1B Nursery Approved
Milford Regional has been licensed and approved by the Department of Public Health to operate a Level 1B Continuing Care Nursery within The Maternity Center. The new designation allows Milford Regional to provide a broader range of services to newborns that require additional specialized care and support. Milford Regional’s Level 1B nursery is designed to accommodate the extra care, comfort and needs of late preterm babies at 35 weeks and beyond, as well as those with health issues.
Milford Regional’s Level 1B Nursery is equipped with the latest technologies, including:
- Cardiopulmonary monitors
- LED phototherapy lights for elevated bilirubin levels
- Radiant warming units
- Resuscitation and stabilization care centers
- IV infusion pumps
- Isolettes
- Donor milk
- Oxygen therapy
Those who lead and work within The Maternity Center at Milford Regional have been diligent and focused in their effort to achieve a Level 1B designation and we congratulate them for their dedication to serving the newest members of our community with the very best care.
Pharmacy Expansion
Milford Regional’s Pharmacy expansion completed both phases of construction in FY 2020, bringing this important department to 4,570 square feet, which more than tripled its size. The expansion includes a new, state-of-the-art compounding suite which meets upcoming pharmacy regulations. This area includes seven rooms: two sterile compounding rooms (one for hazardous, one for non-hazardous), one anteroom (where employees suit up for sterile compounding), two storage/staging areas, a nonsterile compounding room and a changing room. The pharmacy workspace includes a new carousel, providing key storage for medication, space for unit dose packaging, computer and non-computer workstations, refrigerator and freezer capacity and other needed storage. The new Milford Regional Pharmacy also includes a new vestibule, dedicated pharmacist pod, offices and breakroom.
Comprehensive Lung Cancer Screening Program
Milford Regional has partnered with Brigham and Women’s Hospital to provide world-class thoracic surgery on our campus since 2002 and has performed lung cancer screenings since 2012. However, with the introduction of Brigham and Women’s Thoracic Surgeon Brian Whang, MD, as Chair of Thoracic Surgery on Milford Regional’s medical staff, the hospital made an investment to develop a comprehensive lung cancer screening program (done with low-dose computed tomography) to discover lung cancer at its earliest stage with the best possible outcome.
The world-class program employs leading-edge surgical technology that includes the revolutionary SPiN Thoracic Navigation System™ which allows our thoracic surgeons to accurately navigate to lung nodules, and then biopsy nodules that were previously unreachable due to their size or location. The program also offers a comprehensive tracking system that follows each patient throughout their care and the expert input of a pulmonary lung nodule review board. Dr. Whang is joined by an experienced team that includes Thoracic Surgeon Matthew Rochefort, MD; Physician Assistant Chris LeSiege, PA; and Lung Cancer Screening Coordinator Kristine Lacourse. With this highly regarded team in place, patients can be confident that their care will be comprehensive, thorough and timely.
Bridging the Gap – Substance Use Disorder
The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that emergency rooms see nearly 4.6 million drug-related visits per year. Of those, 45 percent of patients report drug misuse, including nonmedical use of pharmaceuticals, use of illicit drugs, and alcohol-use disorder. Dr. Jeffrey Hopkins, medical director of Milford Regional’s emergency department, was instrumental in helping Milford Regional create a partnership with Spectrum Health Systems, Inc. Spectrum, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing a comprehensive continuum of addiction treatment, provides rapid access to medication-assisted treatment (MAT) to patients of the emergency department (ED) and other MRMC-affiliated patient care sites. Through this collaborative effort, Milford Regional and Spectrum are bridging the gap between emergency care and primary care offices for individuals struggling with substance use disorders and longer-term addiction treatment. To alleviate the increasing pressure put on its ED, Milford Regional now refers patients seeking help for opioid addiction to Spectrum Health Systems’ nearby center, located at 200 Main Street in Milford. The center now acts as a “bridge clinic” between the two providers. Their patients receive individualized care that is specific to their addiction from Spectrum’s top clinicians and behavioral health professionals.
The Center for Pain Medicine Opens at Milford Regional
Milford Regional Medical Center opened a new clinic offering a comprehensive approach to pain management focused on alleviating symptoms, restoring function and encouraging emotional health. Brigham and Women’s Center for Pain Medicine at Milford is led by Medical Director Victor Wang, MD, PhD and Edward Michna, MD. These two physicians have stellar reputations and medical expertise from several outstanding tertiary care centers within the United States.
Dr. Wang is board certified in both neurology and pain medicine and holds appointments in both the anesthesiology and neurology departments at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. In addition, Dr. Wang is an instructor at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Michna performed a residency in anesthesia and a fellowship in pain medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He is board certified in anesthesia, pain medicine and palliative care. Dr. Michna is an assistant professor in anesthesia at Harvard Medical School and is the Director of the Pain Trials Center at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
The Center for Pain Medicine offers a multi-disciplinary team approach that works with primary care physicians, spine surgeons and other specialists to provide a thorough and individually tailored program for patients to manage their pain. At the Center for Pain Medicine, the team offers services that include anesthesiology, psychiatry, psychology, nursing, neurology and physical therapy to treat a variety of conditions including back pain, abdominal pain, vascular pain, headaches, neuropathic pain, neck pain, pancreatitis, pelvic pain, cancer pain, peripheral neuropathy and chronic post-surgical pain.
MEDITECH Expanse is Here!
As FY 2020 came to an end, Milford Regional achieved successful implementation of its new MEDITECH Expanse electronic medical record (EMR) system. This state-of-the-art EMR platform enhances patient care through a full integration of their medical information within the hospital that allows clinicians to view one continuous record throughout their stay. The quality of care and safety is positively impacted through an improved patient and provider experience. Patients’ medical information in both the inpatient and outpatient setting are now coalesced within one record. In addition, the EMR increases the safety of care delivery through enhanced clinical decision support, improved access to information, improved transitions, improvements in efficiency and elimination of redundancies. The system also communicates seamlessly with other health care facilities and systems through a connection to the Common Well Health Alliance, a Health Information Exchange.