For 5th Straight Year, South Nassau named to Becker’s Hospital Review for 100 Hospitals with Great Women’s Health Programs

For the fifth consecutive year, Becker's Hospital Review has named South Nassau Communities Hospital to its list of "100 Hospitals with Great Women's Health Programs" in the United States.

The editorial team of Becker's Hospital Review based their selection of hospitals to the list on national rankings and awards received from several institutions, including U.S. News & World Report national and regional rankings for gynecology, CareChex rankings for women's health care, women's health Healthgrades awards, Women's Choice Award's Best Breast Centers list and Baby-Friendly designation from Baby-Friendly USA, the accrediting body for the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative in the U.S.

South Nassau has multiple accreditations, designations and awards for its women’s health services including accreditation from the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers; Baby-Friendly Hospital designation and Healthgrades’ Top 10 Percent of Hospitals Evaluated for Gynecologic Procedures, Gynecologic Procedures Excellence Award, Superior Performance in Gynecologic Procedures Award, and 5-Star Recipient for Hysterectomy.

“From high-risk pregnancies and infertility to breast cancer and reproductive malignancies, women across the South Shore know that they can turn to South Nassau for patient-centered healthcare that combines world-class physician specialists with advanced medical technologies and treatments,” said Richard J. Murphy, South Nassau's president and CEO.

“This recognition testifies to our long-standing commitment to ensure that women have comprehensive and convenient access to a network of healthcare services devoted to their health and wellness,” added Alan Garely, MD, chair of obstetrics and gynecology.

South Nassau’s scope of women's healthcare services includes breast health, obstetrics and gynecology, maternal fetal medicine, genetic counseling, women's imaging, and gynecologic oncology.

South Nassau’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology offers women access to specialized health care for optimum treatment of reproductive health conditions, from endometrial biopsies and colposcopies to gynecologic oncology.  At South Nassau's Women's Center for Pelvic Floor Disorders, all-too-common conditions such as incontinence and constipation are effectively diagnosed and treated using state-of-the-art technology administered by highly skilled surgeons. South Nassau is one of only a handful of locations in the country, who offer this service.

In the hospital’s Center for New Beginnings, a team of experienced obstetricians, labor and delivery nurses and high-risk pregnancy specialists delivered more than 2,000 babies in 2017. In addition to advanced maternal-fetal medical technologies, the Center features 26 private family/newborn rooms with first-class hotel like accommodations, spacious labor and delivery rooms, and a 6-bed neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Staffed by board-certified neonatologists, the NICU is equipped with the dedicated medical technologies that premature deliveries and newborns with developmental complications or conditions require.  The Center also has a dedicated state-of-the-art surgical suite for mothers needing a Caesarean section delivery.

South Nassau’s Center for Women’s Imaging (CWI) provides the advanced diagnostic technologies needed to detect breast disease in its earliest stage. A designated Breast Imaging Center of Excellence by the American College of Radiology, CWI offers an array of state-of-the-art diagnostic technologies, including digital mammography, high resolution ultrasound and MRI of the breast.

If a tumor or abnormality is detected, the Center for Breast Health at South Nassau’s Gertrude & Louis Feil Cancer Center offers the most advanced treatments for breast cancer and uses targeted surgical techniques that aim to preserve as much of the healthy breast and surrounding areas as possible. This includes breast-conserving surgery (commonly known as lumpectomy), in which only the tumor or abnormality is removed from the breast; or mastectomy, an operation in which the whole breast is removed. For invasive breast cancer, these procedures may be accompanied by a sentinel lymph node biopsy, which is a minimally invasive technique for staging of lymph nodes.

Oncoplastic surgical techniques are also offered. Oncoplasty combines surgical cancer removal with plastic surgery techniques to produce a superior cosmetic end result. Recommendations for whole-body or "systemic" treatments, such as hormonal therapy, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, or a combination of two of the three therapies, may follow either surgical approach. If early-stage breast cancer is present, sentinel lymph node biopsy is used as an alternative to traditional lymph node dissection.

The Center for Breast Health is accredited by the American College of Surgeon's National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC).  NAPBC accreditation is granted only to those centers that have voluntarily committed to provide the best in breast cancer diagnosis and treatment and is able to comply with established NAPBC standards.

The “100 Hospitals with Great Women’s Health Programs” listing is among a multitude of other awards for safety and quality that South Nassau has earned during the past year, including:

• Healthgrades Top 10 Percent of Hospitals Evaluated for Gynecologic Procedures, Gynecologic Procedures Excellence Award, Superior Performance in Gynecologic Procedures Award, 5-Star Recipient for Hysterectomy;
• Healthgrades® America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Orthopedic Surgery™, Orthopedic Surgery Excellence Award™, and 5-Star ratings for Total Knee Replacement, Total Hip Replacement and Hip Fracture Treatment;
• Healthgrades Patient Safety Award, Healthgrades Top 5 Percent of Hospitals for Patient Safety, Healthgrades Top 10 Percent of Hospitals for Patient Safety;
• U.S. News & World Report Best (New York) Metro Area Hospitals Rankings of 17th Overall;
• Re-accreditation designation by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers;
• Get With The Guidelines®–Heart Failure Gold-Plus Quality Achievement Award by the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology Foundation;
• American Heart Association/American Stroke Association Get With The Guidelines Stroke Gold Plus Achievement Award with Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Plus;
• IPRO (Improving Healthcare for the Common Good) End-Stage Renal Disease Network Quality Award for Highest ICH CAHPS Score in New York;
• IPRO End Stage Renal Network Five Diamond Safety Award (for both the Inpatient Dialysis Unit and the Outpatient Dialysis Center);
• TCU (Transitional Care Unit) CMS Nursing Home Compare 5- Star Rating;
• TCU US News & World Report Top Nursing Homes in America.

Designated a Magnet® hospital by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) for outstanding nursing care, South Nassau® Communities Hospital is one of the region’s largest hospitals, with 455 beds, more than 900 physicians and 3,500 employees. Located in Oceanside, NY, the hospital is an acute-care, not-for-profit teaching hospital that provides state-of-the-art care in cardiac, oncologic, orthopedic, bariatric, pain management, mental health and emergency services.

 In addition to its extensive outpatient specialty centers, South Nassau provides emergency and elective angioplasty, and offers Novalis Tx™ and Gamma Knife® radiosurgery technologies.  South Nassau operates the only Trauma Center on the South Shore of Nassau County verified by the American College of Surgeons as well as Long Island’s only free-standing, 9-1-1 receiving Emergency Department in Long Beach. South Nassau also is a designated Stroke Center by the New York State Department of Health and Comprehensive Community Cancer Center by the American College of Surgeons, and is an accredited center of the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Association and Quality Improvement Program.

In addition, the hospital has been awarded the Joint Commission’s gold seal of approval for disease-specific care for hip and knee replacement, heart failure, bariatric surgery, wound care and end-stage renal disease. For more information, visit www.southnassau.org.