Parma General Hospital

University Hospitals has been recognized by Ethisphere, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices, as one of the 2020 World’s Most Ethical Companies. This is the eighth year University Hospitals has received this recognition since 2012 and is one of only five honorees in the health care providers’ category. In 2020, 132 honorees were recognized spanning 21 countries and 51 industries. The award underscores an ongoing institutional commitment to lead with integrity and prioritize ethical business practices. “The 2020 World’s Most Ethical Companies award is a tribute to the integrity of our caregivers at University Hospitals,” said Thomas F. Zenty III, Chief Executive Officer of UH. “We strive to maintain high professional and ethical standards as we deliver the highest-quality care to our patients by living according to our core values: Excellence. Diversity. Integrity. Compassion. Teamwork.”

A high-tech robot is the latest complement to the $27.5 million renovation of the Surgery Department at University Hospitals Parma Medical Center, providing surgeons in various specialties an exciting opportunity to utilize the latest-generation surgical technology for superior patient outcomes.

Clevelanders are familiar with the seasonal onslaught of allergens, which are typically trees in spring, grasses in summer and weeds in fall. Now they can count year-round on an ENT physician to handle these concerns and more for patients of all ages.

“Allergies or environmental irritants can affect patients in so many ways; causing cough, ear complaints, as well as nasal issues,” says W. Colby Brown, MD, who trained at UH, completed his fellowship at one of the nation’s premier programs and is now based on the West-side at University Hospitals Parma Medical Center.

In addition to treating seasonal allergies, Dr. Brown also treats a wide range of more common ENT conditions, such as inflammatory diseases of the sinuses, including allergic rhinitis, chronic sinusitis, and nasal polyps. He handles many procedures, such as tympanostomies (ear tubes), tonsillectomies, and septoplasties.

“Dr. Brown brings to UH Parma a patient-centered focus with expertise in all aspects of pediatric and adult general ENT,” said Nicole Maronian, MD, Director of the UH Ear Nose and Throat Institute. “His full-time presence will allow for improved ENT care in a consistent manner for the greater Parma area. He has particular expertise in nasal and sinus disease, chronic sinusitis and polyposis, and allergy.”

Dr. Maronian also noted that Dr. Brown pursued sub-specialty training at the top rhinology and anterior skull base fellowship training program in the country at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he completed his fellowship in advanced sinus surgery and skull-base surgery, including treating rare tumors such as juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibromas and nasal squamous cell carcinomas. He attended Case Western Reserve University for medical school after graduating magna cum laude from Harvard University.

Dr. Brown sees patients three days each week in his clinic in Medical Arts Center 1 on the UH Parma campus, and has two days dedicated to surgery in UH Parma’s newly renovated Surgery Department.

“Everyone has been very friendly, supportive and appreciative,” says Dr. Brown. “This is a very collaborative environment here at UH Parma.”

Dr. Brown joins ENT Nurse Practitioner Melissa Partyka NP, who also treats all general ENT, with additional expertise in hearing loss, tinnitus, and balance issues, as well as Shawn Li, MD, who has expertise in head and neck cancer, thyroid disease, and neck masses.

Dr. Brown’s office is located at 6681 Ridge Road, Parma. Patients can make an appointment by calling 440-743-8111.

Phase One of the largest construction project at University Hospitals Parma Medical Center in more than 30 years has been completed. A large modern addition to the front of the hospital and extensive renovation in existing space now houses the expansion of the Surgery Department. This phase includes five new operating rooms, three endoscopy suites and 30 private bays for pre-operative and post-operative care. The new section also has an expanded waiting room and a new discharge elevator for outpatients to bypass the hospital’s main lobby to exit the building.

Sudden loss of energy and shortness of breath set off alarm bells for Dale Kline. The Parma man, who works extremely long days as an award-winning food salesman, was used a busy life. He spent 38 years coaching basketball, soccer and baseball in Parma. But since the pandemic hit, the 60-year-old was spending more time sedentary as the vast majority of his business with party centers, restaurants and schools stalled. He noticed that he was getting winded doing yardwork. Though he smoked two packs of cigarettes a day, he could previously complete yardwork with no problem. In mid-June, Kline went to an urgent care and learned he was on the verge of pneumonia. He returned home to recover but was feeling increasingly worse. Wracked with chills and with a grayish pallor, he was shaky on his feet and had difficulty standing and walking. On Father’s Day, his daughter insisted on bringing him to the Emergency Department at University Hospitals Parma Medical Center. His daughter’s insistence – and his physician’s expertise - saved his life.

University Hospitals has announced expanded roles for three leaders at UH Parma Medical Center. This operating model aims to deliver the highest value health care for the West Market communities from Parma to Ashland and Westlake to Elyria, including affiliated UH health centers and other patient access points in the western region of Northeast Ohio.

University Hospitals Parma Medical Center has expanded its comprehensive pain management program to a new location in the North Royalton YMCA, further enhancing its already robust presence at 11409 State Road.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, University Hospitals Parma Medical Center has made the safety of patients and caregivers its top priority. The hospital has adjusted its visitation policies effective June 23. “Allowing visitors into the hospital is a welcomed transition to partner with friends and families, focusing on the care and well-being of our patients,” says Chief Medical Officer Kimberly Togliatti-Trickett, MD. “But masking is important for the safety of all.”

Grateful patients adapt their homemade masks for speech therapy patients Many people may be frustrated by masks that conceal facial expressions. But there is one group of patients that are overjoyed to see their caregivers in face masks now. These fortunate patients are those with outpatient speech therapy appointments at University Hospitals Parma Medical Center. A grateful physical therapy patient who has sewn hundreds of cloth masks for neighbors, friends and family chose to help out her UH Parma friends by modifying her pattern to add a vinyl window that allows patients to see the therapist’s mouth.

The pandemic prompted the environmentally minded staff at University Hospitals Parma Medical Center to begin making masks out of sterile wrap used for surgical instruments. Organized by nurses and fueled by volunteers sewing them, this effort that yielded more than 300 masks was not just resourceful but environmentally sound.

A COVID-19 survivor who spent 57 days in the hospital had a strong lesson before his recent discharge from University Hospitals Parma Medical Center: "Wear the mask and stay six feet apart. I'm telling you, this disease can kill you." Jerry Gustin, 74, of Parma left UH Parma Medical Center on May 27 following intensive rehabilitation in UH Parma Medical Center's Acute Rehabilation Unit. He underwent at least three hours of occupational and physical therapy every day to regain his strength to walk and care for himself again.  The nurses, therapists and physicians became a second family to him, as no visitors are currently allowed in hospitals due to the pandemic. Jerry began every morning with a call to his wife, Linda, and received extensive support from his four children and eight grandchildren, who called and sent signs to motivate him. 

Thousands of Patients Connect with Health Experts through Webinars From the convenience of your living room, now you can talk to the experts. University Hospitals has transformed its popular health seminars, which previously took place in person at the hospital and at community locations, into a virtual format. Patients can now sign up quickly online and watch free physician talks, with an opportunity to ask questions. Thousands of patients can access these webinars, offered on Zoom and reaching far more people than was possible in the previous format.

UH Parma Medical Center received a $500,000 community challenge grant from Parma Hospital Health Care Foundation to support the hospital’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The funds will help support the unanticipated costs of the health crisis, including extensive patient care, medical supplies and research as well as providing for the protection, wellness and resilience of UH Parma caregivers.  

University Hospitals has secured two clinical trials that will provide the investigational antiviral drug remdesivir to hospitalized adults with a pneumonia due to the novel coronavirus. One trial will focus on COVID-19 patients with moderate illness. The second will focus on patients with more severe illness who may require care in the intensive care unit (ICU).

UH is committed to helping our community understand and manage their health and wellbeing. However, given the rapidly evolving situation regarding the Coronavirus (COVID-19), including the newly confirmed cases in Ohio, we are taking proactive preventive precautions to protect our community.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created shortages of personal protective equipment worldwide. University Hospitals is working diligently and innovatively to assure we have the supplies necessary to continue to safely and effectively care for our patients, while protecting our caregivers.

Anticipating the short supply of surgical masks, UH has designed a uniform mask prototype that can be sewn by volunteers. This is a proactive way to assure the protection of our caregivers and patients under the most extreme situations. UH Parma Medical Center will be a drop-off point for these masks.

UH will continue to follow CDC guidelines for the use of personal protective equipment. Masks sewn by volunteers are not intended for direct use with patients who have or are suspected of having COVID-19. It’s important for volunteers to follow the UH-specific design. 

Patients grappling with a challenging diagnosis of pancreatic cancer can access a nationally recognized University Hospitals expert for a face-to-face virtual consult in less than 48 hours. Second opinions are available by video and telephone with Jordan Winter, MD, Chief of Surgical Oncology at University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center and a nationally renowned pancreatic cancer expert. Dr. Winter will talk with patients to dicuss diagnosis, treatment options and potential clinical trials for those with localized pancreatic cancer or similar lesions. “The data are clear that pancreatic surgery is best performed at high-volume centers to receive the best possible outcome," Dr. Winter says. “However, many patients don't have the resources, connections or geographic proximity to find a specialist. We believe that pancreatic cancer is not only a medical urgency, but a psychologic and emotional emergency. Patients need access to a specialist quickly to get their questions answered and expedite evaluation and treatment."

Heart Disease & Calcium Scoring

A nurse navigator can be the invaluable guide in the complicated and unpredictable journey of a cancer patient. This is the critical role at UH Seidman Cancer Center for a nurse like Susan Lawrence, BSN, RN, at University Hospitals Parma Medical Center. She can help a man with multiple myeloma, under the care of a hematologist at University Hospitals’ main campus, arrange regular infusions close to home as he prepares for a bone marrow transplant. She can schedule more convenient chemotherapy appointments for a woman with breast cancer, whose surgeon is based on the east side. And for patients whose specialist is only at UH main campus for a rare kind of cancer, she can ensure that thrice-weekly bloodwork is at least obtained at UH Parma, preventing a trip downtown.

Ken Sikora lay in the hyperbaric oxygen chamber, dozing on and off while breathing 100 percent oxygen. With each breath, the oxygen traveled through Ken’s tissues, delivering healing properties to the deep wound in his big toe. A diabetic with poor blood circulation and feeling in his feet, Ken was unaware that the new boots he received last Christmas were causing an ulcer on his great toe. Mary Alice, his wife of 45 years, was the first to notice the hole in the bottom of his left foot, which was so deep that the bone was visible. An estimated 30 million Americans suffer from diabetes, and 25 percent of diabetics will develop a foot ulcer in their lifetime. Untreated ulcers can lead to amputations, which can drive up the mortality rate. 

Lung nodules detected on chest X-rays and CT scans, such as coronary calcium scoring, will receive expedited care through the new Lung Nodule Center at University Hospitals Parma Medical Center. The Center, located within UH Parma’s Community Care Clinic in Medical Arts Center 1, Suite 205, will ensure that patients are seen quickly and continually tracked to receive follow-up care. “The Lung Nodule Center at UH Parma allows patients expedited access to the highest-quality academic care in the heart of our community,” says James Hill, MD, Associate Chief Medical Officer at UH Parma Medical Center.

An orthopedic injury clinic, with care provided by the experienced physicians of the Center of Orthopedic Surgery, will handle walk-in injuries of an orthopedic nature at this landmark outpatient center just off I-77 at Route 82 in Broadview Heights. Opening on Nov. 1, this clinic will see patients five days a week and will have the capability to schedule next-day surgery at a UH Parma Medical Center, if needed.

More than 70 million Americans suffer from sleep problems. If you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, or are fatigued during the day, a sleep study at UH Parma Medical Center’s Sleep Center can help you determine why. Find out if you suffer from a sleep disorder and learn treatment options. 

On the first evening following surgery, an astounded Bill Roberts was standing, pain-free, bearing weight on his new hip. “It was the first time in well over a year that I stood up and I had no pain,” says Bill Roberts of Seville in Medina County. “They want you mobile again as soon as possible.” The retired Boy Scouts executive, who moved to Ohio from California three years ago, is used to an active lifestyle. The 71-year-old chose an orthopedic surgeon – Michael LoPresti, MD, with the Center of Orthopedic Surgery – with the same mindset.

University Hospitals Parma Medical Center is shifting its focus from delivering babies to enhancing services that care for women and children throughout their lives. The hospital is expanding women’s services and UH Rainbow pediatric services as it transitions labor and delivery to other UH locations.

With patient-centered care, innovation and enhancement as central principles, University Hospitals is re-envisioning and expanding end-of-life care for patients and families across Northeast Ohio.

Kim Monaco, BSN, RN, a longtime nursing leader at University Hospitals Parma Medical Center, has been named its new Chief Nursing Officer.

HEART DISEASE AND CALCIUM SCORING TEST INFORMATION

Following a consultative visit from the American College of Surgeons in April, the Ohio Department of Public Safety, Division of EMS has confirmed that UH Parma Medical Center has met the requirements to operate as a Level III Adult Trauma Center under provisional designation, effective immediately.

University Hospitals Parma Medical Center was awarded an ‘A’ from The Leapfrog Group’s spring 2019 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade. The designation recognizes UH Parma Medical Center’s efforts in protecting patients from preventable harm and providing safer health care. The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization committed to improving health care quality and safety for consumers and purchasers. The Safety Grade assigns an ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, ‘D’ or ‘F’ grade to hospitals across the country based on their performance in preventing medical errors, injuries, accidents, infections and other harms to patients in their care.

Of the 30 million Americans suffering from diabetes, an estimated 25 percent of diabetics will develop a foot ulcer in their lifetime. For those with chronic non-healing wounds and ulcers, the outpatient Wound Care Center at University Hospitals Parma Medical Center now has new hyperbaric oxygen chambers as another alternative treatment.

University Hospitals Parma Medical Center has broken ground on the largest construction project in the main hospital in more than 30 years. The $27.5 million renovation and expansion of the Department of Surgery was boosted by the Parma Hospital Health Foundation, which announced a $2 million lead gift to support this transformational project. Fencing has been constructed in a large section of the main parking lot for the first phase of the project, a new addition of 7,700 square feet to the building that will modernize and alter the front of UH Parma Medical Center. The project will proceed in multiple phases over a two-year period, including a complete renovation of the existing Department of Surgery, to avoid disruption to surgery operations.

University Hospitals Parma Medical Center invites the public to the reopening of the Radiation Oncology Department at its UH Seidman Cancer Center following a $3 million renovation. At a community open house on Saturday, April 27 from 9 a.m. to noon, visitors can tour the facility, enjoy breakfast and meet two new oncologists and a cancer navigator to guide patients through their cancer journey. Visitors also can participate in health screenings and see the state-of-the-art linear accelerator that delivers radiation treatments to patients.

University Hospitals Parma Medical Center earned the highest possible quality rating in the latest scores released in February by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the federal agency that administers Medicare. CMS rates hospitals from one to five stars, based on their safety, efficiency and patient experience. Only 293 of the 4,500 hospitals in the nation achieved a Five-Star rating in the latest calculations for 2019.

University Hospitals has appointed Brian S. Monter, MSN, RN, MBA, as President of University Hospitals Parma Medical Center, effective March 4. Monter has proven himself as an experienced and successful leader in the University Hospitals system. He came to UH in 2016 to serve as President of UH Bedford and Richmond Medical Centers, campuses of UH Regional Hospitals. Under his guidance, the hospitals improved quality scores, recruited and aligned physicians to eliminate service line gaps, increased employee engagement and established a hospital transfer program in collaboration with UH Cleveland Medical Center.

At 40, Maria-Elena Hill was crushing it – working out and walking daily, eating healthy and avoiding fast food, living a sweet life. But on a dream trip to Greece, the occasional monthly symptoms that arose during her menstrual periods grew ominously unusual. Bloated and agonized by shooting pains in her pelvis, she had trouble buttoning her size 4 pants.

When Frances Cole’s oncologist recommended radiation therapy for breast cancer, the 91-year-old widow faced a daunting roadblock: no reliable transportation to get to her appointments at the Seidman Cancer Center at University Hospitals Parma Medical Center. At first, the Parma Heights woman who no longer drives declined treatment. She didn’t want to burden anyone else’s life with six solid weeks of daily radiation appointments. But her doctor nudged her down the Road to Recovery, an American Cancer Society program that provides complementary transportation to patients who need help traveling to cancer-related medical appointments. “I’ve never taken things from people without paying for it, and I sort of felt guilty,” said Frances, whose husband died three years ago and who refused to ask family members to miss work or rearrange schedules for such a major time commitment.  “All the drivers were so nice. And I felt so good about my nurses and my care, I just needed help getting there.”

Do you experience cramping, pain or tiredness in your legs or hip muscles while walking or climbing stairs? These are the most common symptoms of Peripheral Artery Disease or PAD.

A $2 million investment in the renovation of a beautiful new UH Parma Medical Center office suite to house both General Surgery and UH Digestive Health Institute specialists streamlines care for patients and improves efficiencies for physicians and staff. “It's a genius idea to put surgery and GI doctors together," said Melinda Lakatos, BSN, RN, Nurse Manager of the CCU Stepdown, who was among the many employees and physicians who stopped by during a recent open house in Suite 309 of Medical Arts Center 2. “Our physicians consult with each other all the time on the floors. Now the patient doesn't have to go to several locations for appointments."

More than 1 million Ohioans have Type 2 diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control.  This chronic condition affects the way the body processes blood sugar. What can you do to prevent this common disease?