Author: St. Elizabeth Healthcare

Water enhancers have been around for decades. You probably had them in your cupboard as a child—Kool-Aid and Tang. But water enhancers got a facelift in 2012 when the beverage aisle started filling up with squeeze bottles of concentrated liquid flavor, all to get Americans to drink more water. Rachel Wagner, a dietitian with St. Elizabeth Physicians Weight Management Center, says “If you’re someone who never drinks water, then if you’re drinking water with Mio or Crystal Light, certainly it’s better than drinking a pop. But if you’re only drinking flavored water, then that might not be the best either.”…

If you have hip or knee pain caused by arthritis you could be considering if a joint replacement is right for you. You may be worried about taking the time out of your busy schedule for surgery and recovery. Mako robotic-assisted joint replacement may take that worry out of your mind. What is Mako? Mako is a surgical system that allows for precise planning of your joint replacement surgery. The system also uses a robotic arm during surgery to assist the surgeon in placing the joint and balancing the joint more precisely. It can be used for total hip and…

Knee injuries are common among athletes of all ages, and an ACL injury is one of the most dreaded. The Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) is located between the knee bones. This small but powerful ligament keeps the knee stable during rotational movements and holds the shinbone and thigh bone from sliding out of place. Learning to train and strengthen properly may help you avoid an ACL injury. St. Elizabeth Healthcare recently held a free educational webinar to educate athletes, parents and coaches on how they can reduce the risk of an ACL injury this season. What causes an ACL injury?…

Tuesday September 1, 2020 Edgewood, KY— St. Elizabeth has been named an InterStim™ Center of Excellence, making it the first and only facility in the state and one of 10 in the nation to earn this prestigious designation for treating overactive bladder and urinary and fecal incontinence. Awarded by Medtronic, the world’s largest medical device manufacturer, the designation illustrates St. Elizabeth’s high level of expertise and dedicated approach to its patients. Center of Excellence designation was awarded based on several criteria, including: Exemplary use of the InterStim™ systemCommitment to patient care for those suffering from symptoms associated with overactive bladder…

If you suffer from a degenerative spinal condition, you have likely spent hours researching the latest treatments. Over the past decade, the techniques and tools have improved significantly to make surgery safer and more precise. In 2017, St. Elizabeth Healthcare began using the most advanced tool for spinal surgery available—the Mazor X robotic-assisted surgical program. Tann Nichols, MD, a neurosurgeon with Mayfield Brain & Spine, is one of the surgeons who performs spinal surgery using the Mazor X at St. Elizabeth Healthcare.  “Over the years, there has been an incremental improvement in how we can perform spinal fusions,” says Dr.…

Thursday May 28, 2020 Edgewood, KY — St. Elizabeth Healthcare was recently named a Care Continuum Center of Excellence (CCCOE) by the GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer. With this designation, St. Elizabeth becomes one of more than 30 community hospitals recognized by the GO2 Foundation for providing patient-focused, comprehensive multidisciplinary lung cancer care. To qualify for CCCOE status, a community hospital must meet rigorous qualifying criteria that ensures they are providing the highest level of patient care. Recognized programs offer a comprehensive range of services that span all phases of lung cancer screening, diagnosis, treatment and follow up. At St.…

You may have used the stay-at-home orders over the past few months to get into the best shape of your life, but if you are like most Americans, you probably watched a lot of Netflix and tried to stay safe. As the sports season approaches for student-athletes, it’s important not to go straight from the couch to the field. “When an athlete isn’t conditioned properly, we worry about injury and the hot weather,” says Dr. Michael Miller of St. Elizabeth Sports Medicine. Avoiding injury Many student-athletes go from one sport season directly to the next, but the COVID-19 pandemic has…

Due to aging Baby Boomers, there is expected to be a large increase in the number of total hip and total knee joint replacement surgeries performed over the next 10-15 years. As one of the region’s leading healthcare systems, St. Elizabeth Healthcare felt they could improve care for future joint replacement patients by studying their past patients. St. Elizabeth Healthcare clinical research and orthopaedic departments, collaborated with R. Michael Greiwe, MD, an affiliated surgeon with OrthoCincy Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine who practices at St. Elizabeth Healthcare, to review nearly 6,000 health records of patients who received total joint replacement surgery…

With 100,000 beats every day, your heart pumps about 2,000 gallons of blood throughout your body. Your mitral valve plays a critical role in this process, regulating the flow of blood between the upper left heart chamber called the atrium, which receives oxygen-rich blood from the lungs, and the left ventricle below it, which pumps blood to all parts of your body. If the mitral valve becomes too loose or tight, problems can develop. More than 5.8 million Americans have mitral valve disease, most of whom are over age 65. If you or someone you love is living with mitral…

Many people think that some health care appointments and procedures are considered elective. The word “elective” implies it is optional, but it just means it can be planned in advance and is non-emergent. Putting off your cataract surgery or colonoscopy to stay out of the hospital, doesn’t mean you don’t need the procedure. By delaying routine medical care, you could be affecting your long-term health as well as your quality of life. Health Screenings Detect Disease Early When it is Most Treatable Regular health screenings such as annual wellness visits, diabetes screening, eye exams, colonoscopies, mammograms, and women’s health visits…