Brooklyn's first hospital part of a downtown revival

The Brooklyn Hospital Center, founded 1845, is experiencing a revival and comeback much like the booming downtown that surrounds it.

New slogan reflects change: 'National Quality, Brooklyn Address'

Brooklyn Daily Eagle — "The good news just keeps on coming" is a phrase from a recent memo sent to staff of The Brooklyn Hospital Center by President and CEO Gary Terrinoni. Since taking the helm of leadership at the hospital last year, Terrinoni has been addressing a wide variety of issues that face all hospitals and health providers. His most recent ‘good news’ memo to staff referred to focus on quality and patient safety: the Leapfrog Patient Safety Group ranked Brooklyn Hospital Center among the top six of Brooklyn’s 15 hospitals.

“Our score reflects incredible work by the staff, unrelenting dedication to serving patients and to advancing TBHC’s Blueprint for Financial and Operational Success,” said Terrinoni.

The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is a consumer-friendly letter grade system that evaluates hospitals on how well they keep their patients and their families safe from accidents, errors, infections and injuries.

Last month TBHC received recognition from the American Heart & American Stroke Association's for quality care improvement provided to stroke and heart failure patients, capturing Silver Plus and Honor Roll awards for treatment in heart failure and Gold Plus and Honor Roll Elite in Stroke Care. And earlier this year TBHC was featured in the 2016 “America’s Best Hospitals” section of U.S. News & World Report, awarded as a “High Performing Hospital" for heart failure care.

The American College of Radiology gave TBHC a “Center of Excellence” award for the high quality service in breast imaging.

TBHC, founded 1845 when Brooklyn was still an independent city, is experiencing a revival and comeback much like the booming downtown that surrounds it. Still based on a corner of historic Fort Greene Park (and still carrying it’s distinctive, original name –The Brooklyn Hospital Center) TBHC was the place where Walt Whitman trained as a nurse before heading South to help treat Union soldiers. Surrounded by historic brownstone communities, BAM, BRIC, Barclays Center, LIU and even Junior’s, the hospital is also within a five block radius of two of Brooklyn’s largest public housing projects.

The outreach and partnerships reach even farther out. For example, Prominis Medical and TBHC formed recently a joint collaboration aimed at combating the rate of lung cancer for Brooklyn residents. Detecting lung cancer at its earliest stages, when it is most treatable, is now a reality.  The new low dose CT scan screening program identifies people at risk and helps them begin treatment long before symptoms occur. This quick and innovative screening technology was recently approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and is now available for use.

“The new Low-Dose CT Screening for the early detection of lung cancer is a game changer,” says Dr. Shalom Buchbinder, chairman of Radiology at TBHC. “With this new scan we can identify and treat the first signs of cancer, allowing most patients to survive long term.”

Dr. Andras Fenyves, Medical Director of Prominis Medical, left, and Dr. Shalom Buchbinder, chairman of Radiology at TBHC.

TBHC and Prominis welcome for screening people who meet the eligibility criteria: persons between the ages of 55-77; a current or former smoker who quit in the last 15 years; a significant smoker with a history of at least one pack a day for 30 years. The scan itself takes about five minutes and is completely painless. Most insurance companies (including Medicare and Medicaid) cover this screening.

A recent National Cancer Institute trial found that this screening radically improves patient odds. “Catching lung cancer early and removing it surgically, means that 80% - 85% of lung cancers caught at stage 1 can be cured,” said Dr. Buchbinder, “We want to improve the odds for Brooklyn residents and urge them: please, come get screened,” he added.

For more information, individuals should talk to their doctor or call 855-NO-LUNG-CA (855-665-86432) to schedule an appointment, or visit NOLUNGCANCER.org.