In August, the first steel beam for the new James Cancer Hospital was set in place, one of many milestones in the Medical Center expansion project this year:
- Over the summer, work began on upgrades to the infrastructure for the HVAC system in Rhodes Hall, as well as upgrades to the patient rooms.
- Chilled water line work began around the Medical Center in late summer. When completed this spring, lines from the South Campus Chiller Plant, on the corner of 12th Avenue and Cannon Drive, will cool the new James Cancer Hospital and some Medical Center buildings.
- This summer, work began on the renovations and addition to McCampbell Hall. This two-story, 24,000-square-foot addition will provide space for some of the programs that are currently located in the Cramblett Medical Clinic, which will be demolished in late 2012. The McCampbell Hall project is anticipated to be a LEED Silver certified project.
- In the fall, the addition to Prior Hall was completed. This space houses a new Clinical Skills Lab and office space.
- In November, the first elevator core for the new James Cancer Hospital was completed. These elevators, on the east end of the building, will service the tunnel through the 15th floor of the building.
- Work began on the new Chlois G. Ingram Spirit of Women Park, at the corner of Medical Center Drive and Ninth Avenue, across from SAFEAUTO Hospitals Garage. The park will be completed in spring 2012.
The Medical Center opened its latest CarePoint location in June with CarePoint East, located at the Leonard Avenue exit of I-670 on Taylor Avenue.
The 133,000-square-foot building is home to Cardiac/Pulmonary Rehabilitation, Cardiology, EMG, Endocrinology, Family Medicine, General Internal Medicine, Infectious Diseases, Laboratory Services, Nephrology, Occupational Medicine, Orthopaedics, Physical Therapy, Pulmonology, Radiology and Imaging, Rheumatology, Sleep Medicine, the Spine Center, and other research and education functions.
Berger Health System in Circleville became the newest member of the Ohio State Health Network in 2011. Founded in 1995 by The Ohio State University Medical Center, the network provides cost savings and educational and professional networking opportunities to member hospitals. In addition, network hospitals have access to many resources at The Ohio State University Health System.
Medical Center Launches Telestroke Collaborative
OSU Medical Center is using innovative telestroke technology to provide faster and more efficient diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients in largely rural areas of Ohio.
When a suspected stroke patient arrives in the emergency department a participating rural hospital, a “stroke alert” is activated at both Ohio State and the receiving hospital, which mobilizes a team of stroke experts who, through the use of telemetry and real-time testing and patient interview, can help the rural hospital determine the best treatment option for the patient. Ohio State serves as the hub for the collaborative, which currently serves seven community hospitals. The program will expand to five additional hospitals by May 2012, including University Hospital East. The telestroke collaborative is funded by a $265,000 grant from the Ohio Department of Health.
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IHIS Implementation A Success
More than 900 records of patients receiving care at Ohio State’s Medical Center were converted to IHIS (Integrated Healthcare Information System), a single, integrated health record that benefits patients and staff through improved safety, efficiency and convenience. To date, Ohio State is the largest institution to achieve a single-day implementation of the Epic information-technology system, which is the framework for IHIS. This new system helps care providers access and share information and coordinate care more easily. This initiative was a success in large part due to the Medical Center’s dedicated staff.
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Faculty Group Practice Welcomes Physicians
A significant change took place in the relationship between Medical Center physicians and the University this year. Many of our clinical faculty transitioned from employment by Ohio State University Physicians, Inc., to a new entity called the OSU Faculty Group Practice, making them full employees of Ohio State. This integration strengthens the partnership among the University, physicians, hospitals and the College of Medicine; promotes collaboration, new program development and quality assurance; allows us to better prepare for and respond to changes coming in national healthcare reform; and simplifies administrative operations.
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Charles J. Lockwood, MD, MHCM, was appointed dean of Ohio State’s College of Medicine and vice president for Health Sciences. Lockwood came to Ohio State after nine years as the Anita O’Keeffe Young Professor and chair of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at Yale University. He graduated magna cum laude from Brown University in developmental biology and received a medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He completed his Ob/Gyn residency at Pennsylvania Hospital, a fellowship in maternal-fetal medicine at the Yale-New Haven Hospital, and a postdoctoral fellowship at the Mount Sinai Medical Center.
Peter Mohler, PhD, a prominent medical researcher from the University of Iowa’s Carver College of Medicine, was named director of Ohio State’s Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute. At Iowa, Mohler served as associate professor of cardiovascular medicine, internal medicine and molecular physiology and biophysics. Prior to joining the Iowa faculty in 2006, Mohler was an assistant professor in pathology at Vanderbilt University. He was named a Pew Scholar by the Pew Charitable Trusts in 2007 and a Kavli Scholar of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 2009. Mohler’s research focuses on solving the pathways underlying potentially fatal human diseases, including cardiac arrhythmia, diabetes and neurological dysfunction.
Amanda Lucas has been named executive director of OSU Harding Hospital. Lucas has been associated with OSU Harding Hospital since 2006 when she joined Nationwide Children’s Hospital (NCH) to manage joint programs between the two organizations in behavioral health and child and adolescent psychiatry. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in counseling education from the University of Pittsburgh, as well as an MBA from Point Park University.
Martha Taylor, MSN, has been appointed executive director of the Richard M. Ross Heart Hospital and chief operating officer of the OSU Heart and Vascular Center. She came to Ohio State from Duke University Health System where she served as associate vice president of cardiovascular services, directing and managing all aspects of Duke’s adult and pediatric cardiovascular services across three hospitals.
Funai Named Associate Dean for Administration
Edmund Funai, MD, was appointed associate dean for Administration in Ohio State’s College of Medicine, professor and vice chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and director of the Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine in Ohio State’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Funai came to Ohio State from the Yale College of Medicine, where he was professor and associate chair for clinical affairs in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences. He was also section chief for the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine.
Peter Shields, MD, an internationally renowned physician-scientist and expert in cancer prevention, became the new deputy director of Ohio State’s Comprehensive Cancer Center –James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James). Shields, who came to Ohio State from the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University, is president of the American Society of Preventive Oncology. His primary research focus is identifying biomarkers that can be used in the clinic to assess breast and lung cancer risk, particularly those related to diet, smoking and lifestyle.
Internationally renowned gastrointestinal oncologist Richard Goldberg, MD, has been named physician-in-chief at the OSUCCC – James. A member and former chair of the National Cancer Institute Colorectal Task Force, Goldberg is an international leader in evaluating new agents for the treatment of colorectal cancer and researching inherited colorectal cancer syndromes.
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The University announced the gift of $100 million from Ohio State alumnus and Board of Trustees Chair Leslie Wexner and the Limited Brands Foundation. This is the largest single gift in the University’s history. The funds will support the OSU Medical Center, the James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, the Wexner Center for the Arts and other areas. Wexner, chairman and CEO of The Limited brands, is a 1959 Ohio State graduate.
Learn more about what Ohio State means to Wexner.
Ohio State was awarded $100 million in federal funds in support of the Medical Center Expansion Project. These funds will allow for the addition of a radiation oncology center to the new James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, which will further expand patient access to the highest quality and safest personalized cancer care. The grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) through a competitive grant program created by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.
Pelotonia 2011 riders and donors raised a record $13,108,639 for cancer research at the OSUCCC – James, a 68-percent increase over the 2010 fundraising total of $7.8 million. From Aug. 19-21, 4,986 riders from 38 states and four countries rode up to 180 miles on one of four routes during Pelotonia 2011, an annual grassroots bicycle tour started in 2009. Pelotonia dollars support research projects addressing all aspects of cancer, from diagnosis and treatment, to psychosocial issues and prevention.
In November, Ohio State named its Comprehensive Breast Center in honor of Stefanie Spielman, a tireless advocate for breast cancer research. Spielman was diagnosed with cancer in 1998 and died in 2009. In the first six months after her diagnosis, Stefanie and her husband, Chris, raised more than $1 million for research and patient assistance at Ohio State. To date, the Spielman Funds have raised more than $9.1 million. The work Stefanie began endures through the Stefanie Spielman Comprehensive Breast Center and the continuing advocacy of Chris and their children.
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In early 2011, an Ohio State cardiologist implanted a device for the treatment of sleep apnea, which is placed under the skin near a patient’s collarbone. This was the first time the pacemaker-sized device had been implanted in the United States. The device delivers small electrical pulses to the phrenic nerve, which is connected to the diaphragm, helping to establish a more natural breathing pattern. The potential of this therapy is substantial, given the very high prevalence of central sleep apnea in heart failure patients.
Ohio State recently joined the ranks of about a dozen medical centers in the nation with a team in place to perform pancreatic islet cell transplantation, a procedure that can dramatically improve the quality of life for people with diabetes. In January, a Columbus-area woman underwent this unique medical procedure, which is expected to eliminate her need to take insulin to control her type 1 diabetes. Ohio State had been preparing for the highly specialized procedure for more than seven years, says Amer Rajab, MD, PhD, a transplant surgeon who led the team. The procedure may ultimately provide a cure for the disease.
A synchronized chain of six kidney transplants at Ohio State resulted in an ideal match for three women and three men. The surgical procedures that resulted in the exchange of kidneys between 12 patients required two days to complete and more than two months to orchestrate. The six-way, single-institution transplant was the first and largest to date in Ohio and one of only a handful that have taken place in the United States. The transplant chain was started with an altruistic kidney donation.
Joel Mayerson, MD, director of Musculoskeletal Oncology at Ohio State, led a surgical team that performed an innovative surgical procedure on a 13-year-old male with a rare cancer called osteosarcoma. The youth had a large tumor located just above his knee. The surgical team removed the tumor and portions of the upper leg. The team then performed a rotationplasty procedure to rotate patient’s leg, so that the calf muscle now serves as the thigh, and the ankle and foot act as the knee and shin, connecting to a lower leg and foot prosthesis. Mayerson explained in several news reports how this procedure enhances the youth’s mobility and participation in athletic activities such as baseball.
Surgeons Rebuild Pelvis so Patient Can Walk Again
A multidisciplinary team of Ohio State surgeons created a living bone and metal pelvis for a patient who had chondrosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. The surgical team removed the patient’s left leg, hip and pelvis, and used the healthy, living bones from his amputated leg to completely rebuild the connection between his spine and remaining right pelvis to support a high-tech prosthetic leg. The surgeries, which enabled the patient to walk again, involved hundreds of support staff.
Medical Center staff provided streaming video and tweets of a MAKOplasty partial knee replacement procedure performed at University Hospital East by Matthew Beal, MD, and Andrew Glassman, MD. It’s estimated that 350 people watched the surgery live and another 85 viewed archived footage of the procedure. More than 35,000 people were reached with 181 tweets during pre-surgery promotion and during the procedure. Among those following the video and Twitter postings were the patient’s wife, accompanied by a Medical Center staff member who discussed the procedure. This was our Medical Center’s and Ohio’s first live use of Twitter in a surgical area.
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A new study by Ohio State cancer researchers provided a rationale for treating breast cancer by combining two kinds of targeted agents: one that inhibits an overactive, cancer-causing pathway in cancer cells and another that reverses changes that silence genes normally acting to prevent cancer. Both types of agents were made available and began being evaluated individually in clinical trials. Findings, published online in the journal Cancer Research, showed that abnormal activation of the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway leads to the silencing of a number of tumor-suppressor genes that regulate cell proliferation, survival and motility, and angiogenesis. The laboratory and animal study also showed that combining an agent that inhibits PI3K and a drug that reverses the epigenetic changes that cause gene silencing significantly slows tumor growth.
Treatment using a novel gene therapy agent proved to significantly improve motor skills in patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease, says Matthew During, PhD, of Ohio State’s Department of Molecular Virology, Immunology and Medical Genetics. The Ohio State study, published in the journal Lancet Neurology, was the first randomized, double-blind study to provide definitive clinical proof that gene therapy works in the human brain. Patients involved in the study received either a placebo infusion of sterile saline, or the study therapy, which is the glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) gene delivered within a protein shell. GAD makes a neurochemical called GABA that helps restore chemical balance in areas of the brain where Parkinson’s disease causes abnormal levels of activity.
New research at Ohio State shows that a less-toxic combination of a targeted immune-based drug and a chemotherapy drug can produce long-term remissions in some chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients. This occurs without increasing the risk of later therapy-related myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia, which can often occur with a three-drug combination used to treat these patients. The study was reported online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
A new study identified a gene mutation that researchers estimate dates back to 11,600 B.C., making it the second oldest human disease mutation yet discovered. Researchers with OSUCCC – James led the study and estimate that the mutation arose in the Middle East some 13,600 years ago. Only a mutation seen in cystic fibrosis that arose between 11,000 and 52,000 years ago is believed to be older. The investigators described the mutation in people of Arabic, Turkish and Jewish ancestry. It causes a rare, inherited vitamin B12 deficiency called Imerslund-Gräsbeck Syndrome (IGS). The researchers say that although the mutation is found in vastly different ethnic populations, it originated in a single, prehistoric individual and was passed down to that individual’s descendents. This is unusual because such “founder mutations” usually are restricted to specific ethnic groups or relatively isolated populations. The findings were published in the Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases.
The Medical Center was awarded highly coveted funding from The National Institutes of Health (NIH) to propel education of medical students in both clinical medicine and basic science research. The new Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP), a designation given only to combined MD-PhD programs receiving NIH support, offers an integrated curriculum and provides rigorous training in both biomedical research and clinical medicine necessary for achievement of both the MD and PhD degrees. The College of Medicine is a member of an NIH consortium that expedites the translation of scientific discovery into higher quality patient care. In addition to intense training in both clinical and basic science research, the MSTP program offers a flexible and customized graduate curriculum, centered on the goals and interests of the individual student; independent study pathways for medical school curriculum; strong student community; generous stipends and tuition waivers; and research and mentoring opportunities with Ohio State physician scientists.
Critical care researchers at The Ohio State University Medical Center sought to determine whether zinc is metabolized differently among critically ill adults who became septic within 24 hours of admission to an intensive care unit, and those who were critically ill but not septic. Sepsis is a toxic disease that is the leading cause of hospital deaths. The team, led by critical care specialist Beth Besecker, MD, discovered that the way the human body redistributes zinc, an element vital to physiological function, is predictive of disease severity in those who are critically ill with sepsis. The results were published in the June issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Researchers at The Ohio State University Medical Center are studying whether simple nutritional intervention – adding cholesterol to the diets of children with autism spectrum disorders after a test to see if they need it – can improve core autism symptoms. In excess, cholesterol can be harmful, but a certain amount is crucial for the proper development and maintenance of the brain. So it stands to reason that lower levels of cholesterol, particularly during crucial periods of growth, can lead to mental dysfunction, said principal investigator L. Eugene Arnold, MD, a child psychiatrist at Ohio State’s Nisonger Center who specializes in researching and treating autism.
New research at Ohio State shows that oncolytic viruses, which are engineered to destroy cancer cells, might be more effective in treating deadly brain tumors if equipped with an enzyme that helps them penetrate the tumor. The enzyme, called chondroitinase, helps the cancer-killing virus clear its way through the thickets of protein molecules that fill space between cells and impede the virus’s movement through the tumor, say researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute who conducted the study. Their findings were published online in the journal Clinical Cancer Research.
A study led by Ohio State University cardiovascular researchers uncovered a key mechanism that controls blood vessel health and is likely to play a role in high blood pressure, heart attacks, stroke, and atherosclerosis. They describe a molecular switch that causes the endothelial cells that line blood vessels to either promote vascular dilation or constriction. The findings may lead to new therapies for high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, or improved vascular health in people at risk for cardiovascular disease. The research was published in the journal Nature.
Researchers have identified characteristic patterns of molecules called microRNA in the blood of people with lung cancer that might reveal both the presence and aggressiveness of the disease, and perhaps who is at risk of developing it. These patterns may be detectable up to two years before the tumor is found by computed tomography (CT) scans. The findings could lead to a blood test for lung cancer, according to a Carlo Croce, MD, professor of Molecular Virology, Immunology and Medical Genetics, and director of the Human Cancer Genetics Program, who helped lead the study. The findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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OSU Medical Center was honored with the 2011 University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC) Quality Leadership Award. The award is given to academic medical centers that demonstrate excellence in delivering high-quality care as measured by the UHC’s annual Quality and Accountability Study. Using the Institute of Medicine’s six domains of healthcare quality – timeliness, effectiveness, safety, equity, patient centeredness and efficiency – the study evaluates structures and processes across a broad spectrum of patient care activity. Ohio State ranked ninth nationwide in the 2011 survey among more than 100 medical centers and their 250 affiliated hospitals.
The Medical Center was ranked in 11 specialties out of the 16 ranked in the U.S.News & World Report 2011 rankings of “America’s Best Hospitals.” Of these 11 specialties, seven ranked in the top 25 nationally (Cancer; Cardiology/Heart Surgery; Diabetes/Endocrinology; Ear, Nose and Throat; Gynecology; Pulmonology; and Rehabilitation). In addition, U.S.News rated Ohio State as the No. 1 hospital in central Ohio in the magazine’s newly created “metro rankings.” This year’s rankings continue our standing as one of “America’s Best Hospitals” for the 19th year in a row. The U.S.News rankings are based on quality measures such as patient volume, mortality and safety, nursing excellence, staffing levels, reputation and technology. The 11 specialties recognized and their newest rankings were: Cancer (20); Cardiology/Heart Surgery (24); Diabetes/Endocrinology (20); Ear, Nose and Throat (17); Gynecology (25); Nephrology (39); Neurology and Neurosurgery (45); Orthopedics (36); Pulmonology (25); Rehabilitation (11); Urology (46).
Emergency Medicine Honored for Excellence
For the second consecutive year, University Hospital and University Hospital East were named recipients of the HealthGrades Emergency Medicine Excellence Award. This placed the Medical Center's Emergency Department care in the top 5 percent nationally for risk-adjusted mortality for Medicare patients with life threatening conditions. According to HealthGrades, Medicare patients at an Emergency Medicine Excellence Award-recipient hospital had a 40-percent lower mortality risk on average than patients at non-recipient hospitals.
Carlo Croce, MD, was named to the prestigious Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies, one of the highest honors in the field of health and medicine. Croce is chair of Ohio State’s Department of Molecular Virology, Immunology and Medical Genetics. His renowned career in research has uncovered early events involved in the pathogenesis of leukemia, lymphoma, lung, nasopharyngeal, head and neck, esophageal, gastrointestinal and breast cancers. More recently, he discovered the novel role of microRNAs in the genesis of various cancers. Other Ohio State faculty who are members of the IOM include Clara Bloomfield, Steven Gabbe, Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, Lonnie King, Charles Lockwood, Milap Nahata and James Warren.
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A new curriculum for the College of Medicine was created and, when implemented, will require a new set of competencies for physicians and medical scientists, with greater emphasis on patient centeredness, coordination of care, participatory decision-making, continuous professional development, technology and advocacy. The new “Lead. Serve. Inspire.” curriculum, to be implemented in 2012, features clinical experiences that will help students apply foundational science concepts to patient care. The key aspects of the LSI framework include: a three-part curriculum that takes four years to complete; fully integrated basic science and clinical science; early longitudinal practice-based clinical service that allows students to apply classroom knowledge to real patients; self-directed learning, with multiple assessment methods to provide individualized learning by standardized outcomes; faculty coaching to support strong clinical skills; project work that requires critical thinking and synthesis; and clinical problem solving in a team-based environment.
Match Day Program Welcomes New Residents and Fellows
Approximately 276 new residents and fellows joined the Medical Center in 2011. Of the 23 Ohio State programs participating in the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) in the spring, all 23 programs matched for the first time in 10 years. All of the 137 positions offered through NRMP were filled. Of these NRMP residents, 36 were Ohio State College of Medicine graduates (26 percent) and 19 came from top 25 schools. Those who started July 1 were among 725 trainees across the Medical Center. Ohio State offers 106 graduate medical training programs: 58 programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, 10 programs by other accrediting bodies and 38 nonaccredited programs.
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