The new Wellstar Paulding Hospital is turning five this September. It was our first opportunity to design a hospital from the ground up, and it became one of the first hospitals in the country to use a geothermal energy system, which uses the heat from below the Earth’s surface to heat and cool the facility.
Paulding Hospital features 112 private inpatient rooms, 40 emergency exam and pediatric emergency exam rooms, seven surgical suites, two GI-specific surgical suites, a bronchoscopy suite and decentralized nursing stations.
The hospital recently celebrated an extraordinary accomplishment when it received the coveted Florida Sterling Georgia Oglethorpe Award, which recognizes the hospital’s exceedingly high performance in patient safety, workforce engagement, and financial stewardship.
Over the years, Paulding kept expanding its list of services, bringing much-needed care close to home. One of these offerings is a state-of-the-art catheterization lab, where patients can get treatment for heart attacks and coronary artery disease. The lab opened in 2017, providing care to patients who previously had to travel to either Cobb or Douglas counties for this same life-saving treatment.
“Wellstar’s philosophy has been to deliver high-quality care to the community,” said Harvey Sacks, MD, who served as Paulding County’s sole cardiologist for several decades. “Bringing interventional cardiology here allows people to be treated near home, and makes it easier for their families to be with them at the hospital. Having family with the patient is an important part of healing.”
That same year Wellstar Paulding was also recognized for innovation and excellence in clinical care for patients with COPD and diabetes. The hospital won second place for its focus on diabetes care, which led to better controlling blood sugar for patients with diabetes while in the hospital. Wellstar Paulding Hospital also won third place for lowering readmission rates for patients with COPD.
Wellstar Paulding Hospital Celebrates Fifth Anniversary
Paulding Hospital Turns Five and Receives Important Award
Published on September 15, 2019
Last updated 05:35 PM August 11, 2020
Wellstar Paulding Hospital was built in 2014 and features 112 private inpatient rooms.
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Highlights
Wellstar Paulding Medical Center Offers New Smart Robotic Orthopedic Surgery
New robotic surgical technology at Wellstar Paulding Medical Center personalizes procedures and makes joint replacement surgery even more precise.
The system uses advanced imaging and data analytics, partnered with the surgeon’s expertise, to tailor care for each patient. Using a 3D model based on a CT scan of the patient’s anatomy, surgeons can plan the implant size, placement and alignment accurately before entering the operating room. During the procedure, the robotic system uses real-time feedback to guide the surgeon’s hand and touch-sensitive boundaries to protect surrounding tissues and bones.
“This robotic technology allows our surgeons to make smaller incisions, improve the implant’s placement and operate more precisely—which all mean a smoother recovery for patients,” said Todd Kennedy, president of Wellstar Paulding.
The orthopedic surgery team at Wellstar Paulding uses the system in total hip replacements and total and partial knee replacements.
Wellstar Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Sameer Badarudeen, who has a decade of experience in robotic hip and knee replacements, was the first to use the technology at Wellstar Paulding. He said the system allows surgeons to better personalize care for each patient.
“As surgeons, we now have a much deeper understanding of optimal artificial knee placement, moving beyond the older ‘boilerplate knee’ approach that resulted in identical-looking X-rays for all patients,” Dr. Badarudeen said. “It empowers surgeons to thoroughly assess each patient's unique anatomy and then meticulously recreate the artificial knee replacement to be perfectly tailored to that individual's specific anatomy.”
Denise Fortune, whose knee was replaced using the technology, was able to go home the same day as her surgery. She had minimal pain after the procedure and now has increased mobility after several years of knee pain.
Dr. Badarudeen ensured Denise received personalized care and had the support she needed for a smooth recovery.
“I'm feeling great. I'm still going to physical therapy, and they tell me I'm ahead of where I normally would be,” Denise said.
Newsroom
Wellstar Paulding Medical Center Breaks Ground on $300 Million Expansion
Highlights
Stroke prevention and the future of stroke care
This article was originally published on
Atlanta Business Chronicle on May 19, 2023.
Stroke is the fifth leading cause of death in the United States. The Georgia Department of Public Health reports the state had the 12th highest stroke death rate in the country. Georgia is also part of the “stroke belt,” an area of the southeastern United States with stroke death rates 30% higher than the rest of the nation.
As the leading — but preventable — cause of disability, stroke can happen at any age.
Stroke is a medical emergency, meaning the blood flow to an area of the brain is cut off, depriving brain tissue of oxygen and nutrients. When this happens, brain cells start to die and abilities controlled by that area of the brain, such as speech or muscle control, are lost.
New drugs and new advanced treatments — such as the Tigertriever and Artemis — are helping reduce the death and disability impact of stroke, as well as comprehensive care programs and innovative hospital partnerships that expand stroke services into rural areas.
Physicians from Wellstar Health System and the CEO of a hospital in northeast Georgia joined Atlanta Business Chronicle to discuss stroke prevention and the future of stroke care.
Panelists & moderator
- Dr. Rishi Gupta, Endovascular Neurologist and Co-Medical Director of Neuro Care
- Dr. Ashis Tayal, Vascular Neurologist, Wellstar, Director of Neuro Care Network
- Van Loskoski, CEO, Stephens County Hospital
- David Rubinger, Market President & Publisher, Atlanta Business Chronicle; Moderator
What is stroke, screening and secondary prevention
David Rubinger: Dr. Tayal, set the stage for us about the definition of stroke.
Dr. Ashis Tayal: A stroke is a sudden injury of the brain due to blockage or rupture of an artery in the brain. Injuries to the brain and disability can vary significantly.
The most common, ischemic stroke injury, is due to obstruction of an artery that causes a loss of blood flow to a critical part of the brain which damages the brain rapidly.
The other type of stroke is hemorrhagic stroke, where there’s a rupture of an artery, bleeding into the brain, or the surfaces of the brain, and that is called an intracerebral hemorrhage or a subarachnoid hemorrhage.
Rubinger: I think Americans have become a little better educated as to who’s at risk for stroke, but why don’t you walk us through that. Who would be a potential stroke candidate?
Tayal: High blood pressure, or hypertension, is the most common risk factor for both ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes. High blood pressure is an extremely common but controllable condition. Almost 80% of people have hypertension as they’re getting older.
Other risk factors include diabetes associated with elevated blood sugars causing accelerated blockage of arteries and high cholesterol, which can be related to diet and genetics.
Atrial fibrillation, a common heart arrhythmia that occurs as people get older, also places people at risk for the most severe and disabling types of strokes. And plaque buildup in specific arteries of the neck and brain also leads to an increased risk of stroke.
Smoking is another risk factor. Many adults still smoke despite a lot of progress in stroke treatment, and smoking puts people at risk for different types of stroke.
Rubinger: What about atmospheric things like stress and other areas like that? How does that play into it? Or do those things manifest themselves because of the other underlying physical conditions?
Tayal: I don’t view stress, in and of itself, as a risk factor for stroke. I think that’s more related to people’s environments and their own personalities and how they respond to stress. I do think people who are under undue stress can have poor lifestyle habits, and those poor lifestyle habits, whether poor eating habits, smoking, weight gain or lack of exercise, can lead to conditions that increase the risk for stroke.
Rubinger: So how is the healthcare system doing treating strokes? Do you believe that what’s going on at the primary care provider’s office is helping or do we have a way to go?
Tayal: In the United States, preventive care has improved the treatment of risk factors that lead to stroke, but communities must maintain routine checkups as many of the risk factors are silent.
There are improved treatments for hypertension, more aggressive treatment for diabetes, and more efforts at smoking cessation. Just the fact that we treat hypertension better than we did a generation ago has had a great impact on lowering the prevalence of stroke.
That being said, some of the most exciting work on stroke has often been done in the area of acute treatment of stroke with clot-busting drugs, catheter-based treatments and medications to protect the brain during an acute injury.
Rubinger: Has pharmacology gotten better in terms of the hypertension medicines that are out there? Have anti-cholesterol medicines improved in recent years?
Tayal: In the past, healthcare providers were often undertreating people with hyperlipidemia — high cholesterol — and not fully appreciating the benefits of significant reductions in cholesterol levels. For example, we’ve learned that driving cholesterol down into much lower ranges under 55 mg/dL can benefit our patients who have vascular disease as a cause for their stroke.
In the fight against high cholesterol, newer medications that prevent the absorption of cholesterol are now available. Recent developments have led to the discovery of a new underutilized class of drugs called PCSK-9 inhibitors that are highly effective.