Bermas to Direct New Center- BWH Bulletin - For and about the People of Brigham and Women's Hospital
Bermas to Direct New Center- BWH Bulletin - For and about the People of Brigham and Women's Hospital
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January 12, 2001
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In This Issue:
Retirement Celebration for Betty Pitcher
RISE-ing To The Top
“I Have a Dream”
Dedicated to Patient Satisfaction
Feedback Needed for New Shuttle Plan
Bermas to Direct New Center
Flu Season Has Arrived
Are you ready for JCAHO?
Pike Notes
BWH, one of the world’s foremost leaders in women’s health and specialty services, has taken another strong step towards improving the health care of women. The Women’s Muscular Skeletal Service Center, a “clinic within a clinic” at the Sports and Orthopedic Center at 850 Boylston Street, is set to open this February. The center will focus on giving specialized care to women—particularly older women—diagnosed with joint pain and osteoarthritis. Bonnie Bermas, MD, Associate Director for Clinical Affairs for Women's Health and an Associate Rheumatologist at the Robert B. Brigham Arthritis Center will head up this program. “Part of the goal of this clinic is to provide more streamlined services for women,” said Bermas, likening the clinic to the already-existing Spine Center within the Arthritis Center. Bermas added that musculoskeletal services—including rheumatology, orthopedics and rehabilitation medicine—will be integrated at the center. The center will add focus to BWH's Rheumatology Division and Orthopedic Departments, respectively ranked 4th and 13th in the nation by U.S. News. According to recent studies, women are as willing as men are to undergo orthopedic treatment such as arthroplasty (a surgical procedure done on arthritic joints), but they remain less informed about this procedure than men. In addition, women are less likely than men to be referred to an orthopedic surgeon for potential joint replacement therapy. The new center will work to further the knowledge of patients who are diagnosed with osteoarthritis. Currently, over 7000-8000 patients with this diagnosis are seen at the Orthopedics and Rheumatology clinics every year. In addition to specialized clinical programs, information and educational programs that focus on joint health and treatment options such as arthroplasty will be distributed to women through various outreach efforts. Through these efforts, the center hopes to facilitate women's access to potentially quality of life improving treatments.