HJNO Jan/Feb 2024

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS I  JAN / FEB 2024 61 For weekly eNews updates and to read the journal online, visit HealthcareJournalNO.com children’s hospital in Louisiana and the Gulf South to be ranked among the World’s Best Specialized Hospitals for Pediatrics by Newsweek for the third year in a row. The ranking program features the top 200 hospitals for pediatrics worldwide, and Children’s Hospital New Orleans ranked #60 in the world, and #32 in the United States for the 2024 rankings, which were published last month. Addi- tionally, Children’s Hospital New Orleans has been deemed a “3 Year Champion” of Newsweek’s rankings programs, being recognized consecu- tively since the recognition was first published in 2021. Each year, Newsweek’s ranking methodology becomes more detailed and rigorous, continu- ing to raise the standard of what comprises The World's Best Specialized Hospitals, and this year was no exception. Newsweek , working with the research firm Statista, invited tens of thousands of healthcare providers, workers, and hospital lead- ers from over 20 countries to provide primary and secondary recommendations via an online survey on Newsweek.com. A global board of renowned medical experts then reviewed and validated the results. The rankings are compiled by Newsweek to help patients and their families know which hos- pitals have the most accomplished physicians, diagnosticians and advanced technology to offer the highest level of care. Additionally, for the first time, Newsweek has introduced new rankings for America's Best Chil- dren's Hospitals in seven specialties, and Chil- dren’s Hospital New Orleans has one specialty ranked in the top 25 and three others ranked in the top 40. The hospital’s oncology program ranked #23 in the U.S., followed by pulmonology at #31, neonatology at #34, and endocrinology at #39. “Our teams have worked incredibly hard to earn this well-deserved national recognition,” said Mark W. Kline, MD, physician-in-chief and chief medical officer for Children’s Hospital New Orleans. “The Newsweek rankings reflect our ongoing commitment to provide the highest level of care for children across our region. Our hope is that no child has to leave the state for the expert, lifesaving care that he or she needs, and I am incredibly proud to stand alongside our team of pediatric experts in delivering the highest level of care for more children than ever before.” The Newsweek America’s Best Children’s Hos- pitals rankings are based on survey results from more than 2,000 healthcare professionals and hospital managers with knowledge about pedi- atric care, along with results from patient satis- faction surveys and publicly reported hospital quality metrics relevant to pediatric care. The pro- gram aims to provide information and insights to help its readers find the best children's hospitals nationwide. STHS Offering Aquablation Therapy for Enlarged Prostate St. Tammany Health System has become the second in the region and the first on the North- shore to offer robotic-assisted Aquablation ther- apy, a minimally invasive treatment for lower uri- nary tract symptoms due to an enlarged prostate. Enabling surgeons to better preserve a patient’s sexual function and continence by removing part of the prostate tissue while avoiding critical struc- tures, Aquablation therapy has been proven in clinical studies to offer predictable and reproduc- ible outcomes, independent of prostate anatomy, prostate size, or surgeon experience. The procedure is performed with use of the AquaBeam Robotic System, the first FDA-cleared, surgical robot utilizing automated tissue resection for the treatment of lower urinary tract symptoms due to enlarged prostate. Combining both cystoscopic visualization –— a procedure a doctor uses to look at the inside of the bladder and urethra — and ultrasound imag- ing, surgeons can create a personalized treatment plan tailored to each patient’s anatomy. Once the map is complete, the robotically controlled, heat- free waterjet removes part of the prostate tissue. Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), or an enlarged prostate, is a noncancerous condition in which the prostate has grown to be larger than normal. About half of men ages 51 to 60 have BPH, and the incidence increases every decade of life. If left untreated, BPH can cause significant health problems, including irreversible bladder or kidney damage, bladder stones, and incontinence. Until now, BPH surgical treatments have often forced men to choose between symptom relief and side effects, limiting patients to select either a high degree of symptom relief with high rates of irreversible complications such as incontinence, erectile dysfunction or ejaculatory dysfunction, or a low degree of symptom relief with low rates of irreversible complications. Thibodaux Regional Welcomes Lacey Giambelluca, MD Thibodaux Regional Health System announced the addition of Lacey Giambelluca, MD, foot and ankle surgeon, to the active medical staff. Giam- belluca has joined the practice of OrthoLA. Giambelluca received a Doctor of Medicine from Louisiana State University School of Med- icine in New Orleans and completed an ortho- paedic surgery residency at Ochsner Clinic Foun- dation in New Orleans. Additionally, Giambelluca completed a foot and ankle surgery fellowship at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Ochsner Health Recipient of the 2023-24WebMDChoice Awards Ochsner Health was named among the “Best Hospitals According to Patients & Health Care Providers” by WebMD, an online publication for health news and information. The 2023 WebMD Choice Awards recognized a select group of 167 health systems with Elite Choice Awards, WebMD Patient Choice Awards, and Medscape Physician Choice Awards. Results were gathered via a survey of a national audience encompassing thousands of patients and health- care clinicians to determine which hospitals they believe deliver the best quality and treatments. The awards program identifies the “best in class” health systems in a local region from a consumer perspective across five specialties: oncology, Lacey Giambelluca, MD