Tag: trauma

Miland E. Knapp Rehabilitation Center celebrates 50 years of teamwork

Hennepin Healthcare’s Miland E. Knapp Rehabilitation Center is celebrating its fiftieth year of helping patients return to their homes after severe injury or illness. To mark the occasion, the nationally recognized Center is holding an open house on Sunday, July 14 from 2-5pm at Hennepin Healthcare’s Clinic & Specialty Center, 715 South 8th St. in Minneapolis.

The Miland E. Knapp Rehabilitation Center (Knapp Rehab) is an acute inpatient specialty program of Hennepin Healthcare serving adolescent and adult patients who have been traumatically injured or disabled.

“Our legacy of caring for patients began in an area with only four rooms shared by four patients each,” explains Geoffrey Roe, RN, Nurse Manager of Knapp Rehab. “Of course the center itself, therapies and interventions have changed over time, but the commitment to providing state-of-the-art, compassionate care has remained the same.”

Current and former patients, families and staff are invited to attend the event that will include a short program, refreshments, and time for listening to patients share stories of how they overcame dramatic physical and emotional barriers with the support of Knapp Rehab professionals. Continue reading “Miland E. Knapp Rehabilitation Center celebrates 50 years of teamwork” →

University of Minnesota and Hennepin Healthcare Medical experts restore movement and autonomic function in patients with complete paralysis

Study demonstrates spinal cord stimulation as a treatment for chronic spinal cord injury

There are more than 290,000 people estimated to be living in the United States with a spinal cord injury. Previously, it has been shown that it is possible to restore some function to young and healthy patients within a few years of injury. Now, researchers show spinal cord stimulation can immediately restore some voluntary movement and autonomic functions such as cardiovascular, bowel, and bladder years after a paralyzing injury without any significant rehabilitation.

“This was an opportunity to use epidural stimulation, combine my background in mathematics, collaborate with people from multiple disciplines including biomedical engineering and set up a truly innovative trial,” said Dr. David Darrow, a neurosurgery resident at the University of Minnesota Medical School and a lead investigator for the E-STAND Clinical trial. He is also a senior neurosurgery resident at Hennepin Healthcare and University of Minnesota Medical Center. “We wanted to push the envelope for patients. Once we determined it worked, we moved on to knocking down other barriers to translation to patient care.”

In a study recently published in the Journal of Neurotrauma, Darrow and his colleagues implanted the first series of female patients who both suffered devastating traumatic spinal cord injury.  Both patients had no lower body function whatsoever and MRIs showing very little residual spinal cord at the level of injury. The two women were five and ten years from injury and in their 5th and 6th decade of life, which is much closer to the average patient with spinal cord injury compared to the work of other investigators.

“Enabling someone to move her legs more than 10 years after being paralyzed from spinal cord injury has been one of the greatest moments of my career, “ said Uzma Samadani, MD, PhD, Associate Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery University of Minnesota Medical School and Neurosurgeon with Hennepin Healthcare. “I am grateful to my colleagues for their mutual hard work during the 2 years it took to get from idea to the first operation.”

In this study researchers expanded the inclusion guidelines of who could receive epidural stimulation.

“We believe that we are studying a population that is much closer to the general population of patients with spinal cord injury,” said Darrow. “We have opened the doors to so many more patients with traumatic spinal cord injury.”

“While we are excited for all this could mean for patients, there is still a lot of research to be done, both with this therapy and through other avenues, many of which we are studying at the University of Minnesota,” said Ann M. Parr, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Minnesota Medical School. Dr. Parr has an active translational spinal cord injury research laboratory at the Stem Cell Institute.

This work was made possible by a grant through the Minnesota Office of Higher Education SCI/TBI Grant Program and collaboration of an interdisciplinary group spread across four institutions.  The stimulation devices were a gift from Abbott (formerly St. Jude’s).

About the University of Minnesota Medical School
The University of Minnesota Medical School is at the forefront of learning and discovery, transforming medical care and educating the next generation of physicians. Our graduates and faculty produce high-impact biomedical research and advance the practice of medicine. Visit med.umn.edu to learn how the University of Minnesota is innovating all aspects of medicine.

About Hennepin Healthcare
Hennepin Healthcare is an integrated system that includes HCMC, a Level I Adult Trauma Center and Level I Pediatric Trauma Center and Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute (HHRI), as well as a large outpatient Clinic and Specialty Center and a network of clinics in downtown Minneapolis and suburban Hennepin County.

HHRI supports and oversees the medical research conducted at HCMC, where the more than 10,000 trauma patients are cared for each year. Visit hennepinhealthcare.org for more details about the comprehensive services and hhrinstitute.org for innovative research taking place at Minnesota’s Level I Trauma Center.

Contact: Krystle Barbour
Media Relations Manager, University of Minnesota Medical School
kbarbour@umn.edu
612-626-2767

Contact: Christine Hill
Sr. Media Relations Specialist, Hennepin Healthcare
christine.hill@hcmed.org
612-873-5719

 

 

International Walk to School (Safely!) Day

St. Anthony Village Children Join Safe Kids of Hennepin County and FedEx on International Walk to School Day October 8, 2014

57568515Safe Kids of Hennepin County (Hennepin County Medical Center) and FedEx volunteers will be participating in the International Walk to School day on Wednesday, October 8, 2014 to raise awareness about pedestrian safety. More than 250,000 children across the United States will participate in the annual event to learn safe walking skills and to encourage the creation of safe walking environments.

The team of volunteers from the school and FedEx will be teaching the kids at Wilshire Park Elementary School (3600 Highcrest Road, St. Anthony, MN ) about safe walking that morning. Beginning at 8:00 a.m. children from the neighborhoods surrounding the school will form a “Walking School Bus” and pick-up walkers along the way. They will be greeted by emergency vehicles as well as the schools and hospital’s mascots in the parking lot of Elmwood Church (located behind the school at 3615 Chelmsford Rd) for a photo and then head into the school.

Julie Philbrook, Safe Kids of Hennepin County Coordinator, emphasizes the importance of showing children how to walk safely. “Our children learn by mimicking what they see. By walking with them on International Walk to School Day, we can show them how to make good choices when it comes to safety.”

In 2000, Safe Kids Worldwide and program sponsor FedEx created the Walk This Way Program in the United States to teach safe behaviors to motorists and child pedestrians and create safer, more walkable communities.  Safe Kids and FedEx address the issue through research, physical improvements to school zones, and education and awareness campaigns throughout the year, such as International Walk to School Day.

About Safe Kids of Hennepin County
Safe Kids of Hennepin County works to prevent unintentional childhood injury, the number one cause of death for children in the United States. Its members is a member of Safe Kids Worldwide, a global network of organizations dedicated to preventing unintentional injury. The Coalition is led by Hennepin County Medical Center. For more information, contact Julie.philbrook@hcmed.org

About FedEx
FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) provides customers and businesses worldwide with a broad portfolio of transportation, e-commerce and business services. With annual revenues of $46 billion, the company offers integrated business applications through operating companies competing collectively and managed collaboratively, under the respected FedEx brand. Consistently ranked among the world’s most admired and trusted employers, FedEx inspires its more than 300,000 team members to remain “absolutely, positively” focused on safety, the highest ethical and professional standards and the needs of their customers and communities. For more information, visit news.fedex.com.

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Dr. Chad Richardson named Director of Trauma Services

Dr. Chad Richardson
Dr. Chad Richardson

Chad Richardson, MD, was recently named Director of Trauma Services at Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC). He has been serving as Assistant Director since 2008 under his predecessor Dr. Arthur Ney, who chose to step down after 24 years as Director of Trauma Services. Dr. Ney, who developed HCMC’s successful trauma program (which achieved the state’s first Level I Trauma verification) remains an active trauma and general surgeon at HCMC.

“Dr. Richardson is well-prepared to lead us in the years ahead,” explains Dr. Mark Odland, Chief of Surgery at HCMC. “He’s an outstanding surgeon who is focused on delivering the best patient care possible for our trauma patients.”

Originally from Anoka, MN, Dr. Richardson graduated from the University of Minnesota Medical School and completed his residency training in surgery at HCMC. He received a fellowship in surgical critical care at HCMC and a fellowship in Renal Transplant at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.

Hennepin County Medical Center is a comprehensive academic medical center and public teaching hospital with the largest emergency department in the state. HCMC’s was the first hospital in Minnesota to achieve Level I Trauma Verification status, and in 2014 it will mark its 25th year as a Level I Trauma Center. In addition to the 462-bed acute care hospital and primary care and specialty clinics located in downtown Minneapolis, Hennepin offers primary care clinics in Minneapolis and suburban Hennepin County.

HCMC re-verified as an Adult and Pediatric Burn Center

The American Burn Association (ABA) and the American College of Surgeons (ACS) announced the re-verification of the Hennepin Burn Center as an Adult and Pediatric Burn Center.

Hennepin County Medical Center’s (HCMC) Burn Center is one of only 64 verified burn centers in the country and one of the few centers that manages both adult and pediatric burns. This verification provides a true mark of distinction and is an indicator to government, third-party payers, patients and their families, and accreditation organizations that the Center provides high quality patient care from the time of injury through rehabilitation.

Dr. Anne Lambert
Dr. Anne Lambert

“We’re delighted that our Burn Center is recognized as having all of the key elements of an outstanding program,” explains Dr. Anne Lambert, Medical Co-Director of HCMC’s Burn Center. “We always put our patients first, and that’s why they have great outcomes. It’s so rewarding to see them progress to their full potentials after an injury, and to receive the exact kind of multidisciplinary care they need.”

Burn Center Verification is a joint program of the American Burn Association (ABA) and the American College of Surgeons (ACS). To achieve verification, a burn center must meet the rigorous standards for organizational structure, personnel qualifications, facilities resources and medical care services set out in the in the ABA chapter on Guidelines for the Operation of Burn Centers in the ACS publication on Resources For Optimal Care Of The Injured Patient 2006. Elements of this voluntary program include completion of a pre-review questionnaire and an in-depth on-site review by members of the ABA Verification Committee, which took place at HCMC in May.

A written report by the site visit team is reviewed by the ABA Verification Committee and by the Committee on Trauma of the ACS. In the re-verification letter, the committee commended HCMC for its “commitment to excellence and its commitment to providing quality burn care to its patients.”

HCMC was also recently re-verified as a Level 1 Adult and Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center. HCMC was the first hospital in Minnesota to achieve this status, and in 2014 it will mark its 25th year as a Level 1 Trauma Center.

The Burn Center at Hennepin County Medical Center is nationally recognized for its expertise in treating burn patients of all ages. Staffed by specially trained burn care nurses and physicians, the 18-bed inpatient unit and ambulatory care clinic provide comprehensive burn care to patients from throughout the Midwest.

Safety tips for your 4th of July holiday

80408326We’ve waited for it all winter — and now summer is finally here! A long 4th of July holiday weekend with beautiful, sunny weather is expected.  While we anticipate fun at the lake, picnics, and celebrations — injuries can stop fun in its tracks.  Most injuries are entirely avoidable, so a little prevention goes a long way to help you keep you and your loved ones safe.

“Over the 4th of July, we often see injuries related to drinking too much alcohol,” explains Hennepin County Medical Center emergency physician Dr. James Miner. “But there’s also  summertime trauma like motorcycle and car accidents,  boating accidents, and fireworks injuries.  Of course we see more fireworks injuries over the 4th of July holiday than any other time of the year, and these are usually eye injuries and burns.”

Some simple precautions surrounding the use of fireworks can help keep you out of the emergency department:

  • Always have a bucket of water or hose handy.
  • Never give fireworks to young children.
  • Light fireworks a safe distance from people and flammables.
  • Never try to relight a dud.
  • Never carry fireworks in your pockets.
  • Place used firework pieces in a metal container and douse with water.

These safety tips and more are available on HCMC’s Outdoor Safety web page at hcmc.org/outdoors.  Have a safe, happy,  fun 4th of July weekend!

Verified since 1989 as a Level I Trauma Center for adult and pediatric patients, Hennepin County Medical Center is a comprehensive academic medical center and public teaching hospital with the largest emergency department in the state. In addition to the 462-bed acute care hospital and primary care and specialty clinics located in downtown Minneapolis, Hennepin offers primary care clinics in Minneapolis and suburban Hennepin County.

HCMC doctors make Top 29 Orthopedic Traumatologists list

Orthopaedic trauma surgeons Drs. Andrew Schmidt and David Templeman were  both included in Orthopedics This Week’s recent list of the Top 29 Orthopedic Traumatologists in the United States. This list was obtained through a telephone survey of thought leaders in the field. They were the only orthopaedic trauma surgeons from Minnesota to make the list.

Dr. Andrew Schmidt
Dr. David Templeman

“He is an all around traumatologist, but does especially good work around the shoul­der and knee,” said one of those surveyed about Dr. Andrew Schmidt. “He has great leadership and organizational skills.”

About Dr. Templeman, a surveyor heard:  “He has a good old fashioned way of training fellows so that they learn the importance of surgical planning.”

Dr. Schmidt is president-elect of the Orthopedic Trauma Association (OTA) and Dr. Templeman is a past president of the OTA. Both are also professors of orthopaedic surgery at the University of Minnesota.

Hennepin County Medical Center offers a full spectrum of inpatient and outpatient orthopaedic services, where ongoing, nationally recognized orthopaedic research is conducted at the Excelen Center for Bone and Joint Research and Minneapolis Medical Research Foundation.