Upstate’s mammogram van offers breast cancer screening to women in outlying areas.
Mobile mammography
Upstate now provides mobile mammography services with a new 45-foot van aimed at ensuring easy access to screening for women who live in Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga, Oswego and St. Lawrence counties. A grant from the New York State Department of Health paid for the van, hoping it will help increase screening rates.
The van is equipped with a 3-D digital mammogram system, private exam and dressing rooms and a waiting room.
MPH program
U.S. News & World Report ranked Upstate’s Master of Public Health program in the top 100 of best graduate schools for 2020. The program, which attracts students looking for personalized attention and mentoring, takes 24 months to complete with full-time study. Part-time students have up to five years to complete the program.
Discharge hospital center
A discharge hospitality center is open at Upstate’s downtown hospital, for patients who are ready to go home and awaiting transportation, medical equipment or medication before they leave. The room is near the cafeteria and is equipped with recliners, a television, refreshments and has a nurse on duty.
Donating cord blood
Parents delivering at Upstate’s Family Birth Center at its community campus have been able to donate umbilical cord blood to the Upstate Cord Blood Center since 2018.
Now, parents who deliver at Crouse Health, the hospital adjacent to Upstate University Hospital in downtown Syracuse, have the option to voluntarily donate their baby’s umbilical cord blood. Umbilical cord blood, which is typically discarded as medical waste, is rich with the blood-forming cells that can give blood cancer patients and others hope for a cure. As a public blood bank, there is no cost to donate, and donated cord blood is available to anyone who needs it.
Chair improvement
New Staxi Medical Chairs at Upstate’s downtown and Community hospitals improve the transport experience for patients and the volunteers who move them. The chairs have smaller wheels than a traditional wheelchair, a tapered seat, stationary footrest, folding armrests and brakes that engage when the handlebar is released.
Telestroke connection
Rome Memorial Hospital is the latest health care facility to join the telestroke network through Upstate’s Comprehensive Stroke Center. The network connects stroke specialists with medical staff at regional hospitals to assess and care for patients who may be having a stroke.
Mass spectrometer
Researchers at Upstate now have access to one of the most advanced mass spectrometers available today. Thanks to a $1.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, the new mass spectrometer enables further advances in the fields of structural and quantitative proteomics and metabolomics and drug discovery.
This article appears in the summer 2019 issue of Upstate Health magazine.