We are dedicated to providing the most technologically advanced treatment available in safety and comfort." Dr. Preddie is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center and an Assistant Attending at New York Presbyterian Hospital. He is joined by Donald W. Landry, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine and Director of Nephrology at Columbia University, who will serve as consultant to the Hemodialsis Center. The renovated Center features new, state-of-the-art dialysis machines with comfortable new dialysis chairs. Each user-friendly patient station has an individual flat-screen, LCD television offering cable stations. A new water filtration system was installed. The treatment schedule has been redesigned to serve patients more quickly. For more information about dialysis at St. John's Episcopal Hospital, please call 718-869-7637.
Satisfied patients at Franklin Hospital
In a reflection of the ongoing commitment of its staff to enhancing the patient experience, Franklin Hospital has been honored for the second consecutive year with a national award for achieving some of the best improvements in patient satisfaction scores.The Compass Award comes from Press Ganey Associates, Inc., the healthcare industry's leading independent researcher of patient satisfaction measurement and improvement services. Franklin is one of only three hospitals in the country in its size category to receive this award. It is the only hospital in its category to win consecutively for customer service."Having this recognition has really meant a lot to us over the past year, because creating a good patient experience is absolutely our most important mission at Franklin," said Joseph Lamantia, executive director of the 305-bed hospital. "Franklin continues on its road to improvement. We hope to continue to make every patient experience the best that it can be." Press Ganey Associates, Inc. presented the award to Franklin for making an impressive leap in patient satisfaction scores over a two-year period, from 2003 to 2005. The scores were calculated from patient satisfaction surveys given to patients upon their release from the hospital. Press Ganey annually processes nearly eight million completed surveys in all 50 states.
How to seduce the immune system
The Institute for Medical Research of the North Shore-Long Island Jewish (LIJ) Health System recently hosted Nobel Laureate Kary Mullis, PhD, as the institute's 10th Annual Distinguished Visiting Scientist. Dr. Mullis, an organic chemist, is the inventor of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method of DNA replication, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1993. PCR has revolutionized the way biomedical research is done and is what allows forensics specialists to identify criminals with DNA from a single cell.With a new focus in the field of immunology, Dr. Mullis spoke to a standing-room-only crowd of hundreds of North Shore-LIJ physicians and scientists about his latest work. He is developing a method to seduce the immune system into attacking pathogens against which the body is defenseless, thereby eradicating the infection. Immune cells and their chemicals are very unique, recognizing and stopping foreign invaders by a lock-and-key process, but only if the immune system has previously encountered the organism. Dr. Mullis believes that he can develop drugs that will act like a double-sided key, linking pre-existing antibodies specific for one foreign object to a second foreign object, such as a pathogen, which has never been encountered before. Humans have an extensive network of antibodies against a specific molecule that is ubiquitous in the environment but is not present in the human body. Dr. Mullis and his research team are attempting to trick that already-present army of antibodies into attacking various new pathogens. He is currently testing his theory, which he calls "chemically programmable immunity," with funding from the Defense Department."This is a rapid way to make a drug for any organism," Dr. Mullis said, if his theory proves to be correct.After his talk, Dr. Mullis sat for a book signing of his autobiography, Dancing Naked in the Mind Field, as participants lined up to meet the Nobel Prize winner. In his book, Dr. Mullis challenges readers to question the authority of scientific dogma.
