Author: St. Elizabeth Healthcare

St. Elizabeth Edgewood has been re-certified for two years as a Comprehensive Cardiac Center by The Joint Commission and the American Heart Association. This award affirms the high quality provided by the Florence Wormald Heart & Vascular Institute at St. Elizabeth and certifies that we provide the next generation of cardiac care. There are 14 hospitals in the U.S. currently certified as Comprehensive Cardiac Centers. “This significant recognition – achieved for the second time – is a reflection of the teamwork across the organization to deliver the best care to every cardiac patient, every time,” said Gary Blank, Executive Vice…

When Kelly Garrett felt a small lump in her breast, the fear she felt was so intense she couldn’t bring herself to talk about it. For more than a year, she worried in silence, feeling the mass steadily grow. “One day, I felt a little lump. Six months later, it was a little bit bigger. After a year, it felt like a rock that was big enough to lift my hand up when I laid it on my chest,” said Garrett, 44. “I was so terrified that I wouldn’t tell anyone.” Eventually, in October 2019, she finally confided in a…

A pack-a-day smoker for many years, Teresa Cecil celebrates a monumental milestone: eight years smoke-free. Teresa enrolled in the smoking cessation program at St. Elizabeth Healthcare because, as a smoker, her health insurance increased by $40 per pay period. “I was so angry about the paycheck!” Teresa says. “I went into the class with an attitude. Our instructor had never smoked before, and I kept thinking, ‘what does she know and how can she help me?’” The Smoking Pro and Con List The instructor, Joyce Jacobs – a Nurse Navigator at St. Elizabeth Healthcare – challenged the participants to create…

Hearing loss is more common than you may think. The Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) estimates that 48 million – or 20 percent – of Americans experience some degree of hearing loss, and almost 29 million of those adults would benefit from hearing aids. Hearing Loss We all know someone who struggles with hearing. According to the HLAA, hearing loss is the third most common physical condition in older adults, behind arthritis and heart disease. Hearing loss can occur for several reasons, including: – Genetics – Age – Excessive noise exposure – Medical disease or pathology – Syndromes -…

EDGEWOOD, KY – St. Elizabeth Healthcare has reached an impressive milestone in its fight against lung cancer: the 20,000th lung cancer screening. Since the low-dose CT lung cancer screening program began in 2013, the program has grown exponentially. “We screened seven patients in 2013 and more than 6,000 patients in 2021,” says Michael Gieske, MD, Director of the St. Elizabeth Lung Cancer Screening Program. “Lung cancer screenings are making a significant impact on our community and throughout the state of Kentucky.” According to the American Lung Association’s (ALA) Annual State of Lung Cancer report, Kentucky has moved up to the…

Mary Leonard learned about St. Elizabeth’s lung cancer screening program from a flyer that arrived in the mail. She thought it was a great idea and proactively scheduled her first appointment. Mary just completed her fourth annual lung cancer screening – as St. Elizabeth’s 20,000th lung cancer screen. As a 71-year-old resident of the Florence-Union area, Mary enjoys staying active. She golfs, plays bingo once a week and enjoys caring for her pool and garden. In the winter, she relaxes indoors and enjoys her dogs. She’s also committed to staying proactive about her health – including the lung cancer screening…

As basketball season winds down into the frenzied fun finale of March Madness, the athletic trainers at St. Elizabeth Healthcare remind student-athletes about the importance of injury prevention year-round. “We see the whole gambit of sports-related injuries in basketball, but the most common are ankle and knee injuries,” says Nathan Ameen, Assistant Athletic Trainer at St. Elizabeth Healthcare and Northern Kentucky University Men’s Basketball team. The most common basketball injuries can also take a long time to heal – sometimes, these injuries can even be season-enders. Frequently seen basketball injuries include: If you’re injured while playing basketball, it’s essential to…

Vascular surgery describes surgery on the arteries or veins, which are the “highways” of the body’s circulatory system. When a blockage to an artery or vein occurs, patients may need vascular surgery to repair the obstruction and restore normal blood flow to the area. Vascular surgery frequently involves procedures to address blockages in blood vessels that could occur anywhere throughout the body. When blood vessel issues occur in the heart or brain, they are generally handled by cardiac surgeons and neurosurgeons, respectively. On the other hand, “vascular surgeons primarily deal with problems of arteries or veins in the arms, abdomen,…

Uncovering genetic link leads to better treatment Certain types of high cholesterol can have a genetic link. This inherited disorder is called familial hypercholesterolemia (FH). Hypercholesterolemia is the medical term for high cholesterol in the blood. FH is caused primarily by a genetic defect on chromosome 19, which prohibits the body from effectively removing low-density lipoproteins (LDL), sometimes called “bad cholesterol,” from the blood. Familial hypercholesterolemia is a condition characterized by severe, lifelong elevation of LDL cholesterol. FH is a significant public health problem and puts patients at a 20 times higher long-term risk for coronary heart disease and atherosclerotic…