Lahey Clinic Hospital

Description

About Lahey
When Frank Lahey MD founded a group practice in 1923 his vision was unique Every component of a patients health care would be coordinated under one roof Today Lahey Clinic still offers a distinctive patient experience

With its longstanding culture of specialized teams directly available to individual patients and a work ethic that combines the highest competence with the utmost compassion Lahey is unique among medical centers and teaching hospitalsbecause Lahey teams do more than care for you They treat you right

Lahey Clinic is a physicianled nonprofit group practice Nearly 450 physicians and more than 4000 nurses therapists and other support staff work together to provide compassionate care and superior patient outcomes The Clinics multidisciplinary approach allows patients access to preeminent physicians from virtually every medical specialty who cooperate to develop personalized treatment plans for each patient

From advanced technology to research and medical education Lahey Clinic combines the renowned specialty resources of its medical centers with topquality primary care services at communitybased practices throughout northeastern Massachusetts

Lahey Clinic Medical Center in Burlington encompasses an ambulatory care center serving more than 3000 patients each day and a 317bed hospital Lahey Clinic Medical Center North Shore in Peabody serves more than 800 outpatients each day and includes a 10bed hospital Both feature 24hour emergency departments and an American College of Surgeons verified Level II Trauma Center is based at the Burlington facility

Mission and Goals Statement
Mission
Lahey Clinic as one of the worlds premier health care organizations will

Provide superior health care leading to the best possible outcome for every
patient

Exceed each day our patients high expectations for service

Advance medicine through research and the education of tomorrows health care
leaders

Promote health and wellness in partnership with the diverse communities we
serve

Our Goal
To care for our patients

With compassion and openness

With unsurpassed expertise

With a drive for continuous learning and improvement

With respect caring teamwork excellence and commitment to personal best

History

The History of Lahey Clinic
When Dr Frank Lahey founded a group practice in 1923and gave it his own nameit was an unconventional step in the world of medicine His plan to create a clinic where many specialties would coexist under one roof was a source of considerable debate But only a decade later newspaper headlines were describing this unusual place as the quotWorld Famous Lahey Clinicquot

Building a Group Practice

Laheys original teamanesthesiologist Lincoln Sise operating nurse Blanche Wallace surgical assistant Howard Clute and gastroenterologist Sara Jordanwere pioneers in their fields There were likely few physicians at the time who didnt toast to Jordan as they sipped a stomachsoothing quotJordan Highballquot half orange juice half hot water or administer anesthesia using a quotSise introducerquot

Hospitals were springing up in urban centers throughout the nation following the development of new medical technologies and growth in the nursing profession At this time a young Dr Laheyalready a prominent figure in the Boston surgical communitystood at 605 Commonwealth Ave observing the placement of a cornerstone This is where Lahey Clinic would remain for another 55 years

Physicians saw only outpatients at Lahey Clinic in Boston In fact much of the day was spent traveling between the New England Baptist New England Deaconess and Peter Bent Brigham hospitals to perform surgeries and visit inpatients Shifts were often in excess of 24 hours and five hours was described as quota good nights sleepquot

quotWe were called out to outlying Greater Boston towns for emergenciesto towns and cities in New Hampshire Vermont and Mainequot said Wallace in a 1958 speech to the Harvard Club quotWinter trips with Dr Clute were especially rugged for he was the outdoor type who preferred an open touring car We would go a few shivering miles pile out scrape the ice from the glass get back into the cold wet seatsonly to repeat the performance again and again But we always seemed to get there on time

quotIt was on these trips with Dr Lahey that I learned what his dream wasa Lahey Clinic complete in every detail for the care and cure of the sickquot

By the 1930s and 40s the Clinic was known worldwide for its phenomenal surgical outcomes and stateoftheart treatment of thyroid gastrointestinal and gall bladder disorders

At the Forefront of Medicine

quotIt is obvious that I cannot begin to recount Dr Laheys contributions to World Surgery He was unswervingly committed to the practice and teaching of careful surgery making operations safer in the hands of the average surgeonquot wrote Bradford Cannon MD in his history of the Boston Surgical Society

The reputation that Lahey Clinic has for innovative technology pioneer medical treatment and leadingedge research was built upon Dr Laheys belief that the group practice should also be a center for research and learning From the beginning the Clinic offered residents and fellows a chance to polish their skills under the careful supervision of some of the nations leading physicians

Kenneth Warren MD a senior surgeon in the 1970s was quoted as saying quotDr Lahey was a natural born teacher He would go to any meetinghe didnt care how small it wasif he thought he could contribute somethingquot

A teaching hospital is not complete without cuttingedge technology which is something the Clinic consistently made availablewhether becoming the proud owner of an Xray machine in 1925 a stateoftheart quotModel Oquot heartlung machine in 1969 a whole body ACTAscanner in 1975 or a PACS digital archiving system in 2002

By the time the Clinic moved to its current location in November 1980 the practice had expanded to include services offered by more than 30 departments Many of these departments had begun with a single physician who worked to promote his or her specialty The Gastroenterology and Anesthesiology Departments in particular arose from the practices of Jordan and Sise who in the 1920s were among the first physicians in the United States to specialize in these growing fields

Gerald L Zeitlin MD FRCA of Newton Mass who has collected material on the early Lahey anesthesiologists recalls articles about anesthesiology at Lahey appearing in journals in the 1920s quotI am absolutely sure there were no other surgeons at least as distinguished at Frank H Lahey became who would go into print and state the importance of good anesthesia toward successful surgeryquot he said

Lahey Clinic of Today

By the early 1970s Lahey Clinic had expanded into offices at 143 Bay State Road and 565 Commonwealth Ave It became evident that the Clinic would operate more smoothly if all the specialties were under one roof

Dr Lahey was quoted as saying quotI have often been asked how the Clinic was started and how its growth was promoted I have always answered that I really do not know It started with a few men and women and has literally grown up about my ears and continues to growquot

In 1971 Lahey Clinic made the longawaited announcement quotOver 2000 Burlington voters the largest number ever to attend a regular or special meeting in the townquot overwhelmingly voted in favor of the construction of Lahey Clinic Medical Center in Burlington

Nearly 719000 outpatients and 18000 inpatients were treated at Lahey Clinic Medical Center last yearthe highest number in the history of the Clinic Lahey is consistently recognized in US News amp World Reports quotAmericas Best Hospitalsquot issue and Lahey physicians are consistently ranked quottopsquot in their fields by Boston Magazine

The Future of Medicine Initiative was completed in 2007 with the development of the Landsman Heart amp Vascular center and the Sophia Gordon Cancer Center

Lahey Clinic Medical Center North Shore

The Lahey Clinic Medical Center North Shore facility and clinical services expansion is an important step toward ensuring that the North Shore and surrounding communities receive the finest care for years to come With the completion of its 65000 square foot expansion Lahey Clinic is offering even more services in a larger patient and family friendly environment Renovations within the existing 162000 square foot medical center will offer improved patient flow and new technologies

In addition space for procedural and diagnostic testing will be added including a dedicated surgery and procedure center and expansion of Radiology services All of these efforts will ensure patients continue receiving topnotch diagnostic care and treatment close to home

Frank Lahey MD

Frank Lahey MD 18801953 held national influence in the medical profession not only as a worldrenowned surgeon but also as a distinctive teacher and medical administrator

His innovative group care modelin which medical specialists cooperate to provide comprehensive patient carewas at first viewed with skepticism But Lahey held firmly to his belief that the best outcomes were produced by teams of physicians who shared their expertise

quotUsually referred to as the outstanding general surgeon in the world today at times of crisis he was never known to lose either his head or his nervequot stated the Boston Globe in 1953 quotFirst and foremost he never allowed himself or his assistants to forget they had a human life in their hands Surely but for him thousands would not be alive todayquot

Although he prided himself on being a general surgeon Lahey was well known for his expertise in thyroid and esophageal surgery and surgery for cancer of the stomach and bowel The quottwostage surgeryquot that he pioneered in which surgery was completed in two steps over a period of two to four days greatly improved surgical outcomes In fact his method decreased the mortality rate following thyroid surgery from 1in5 to 1in140

Like his fatherwho was a granite cutter by trade and eventually became a wealthy bridge contractorLahey built his career on humble beginnings

Lahey attended high school in his hometown of Haverhill Mass where he had his own paper route and worked at his fathers firm He then went on to attend Harvard Medical School where he received a medical degree in 1904 After he served as intern and house surgeon at Long Island Hospital 19041905 and as a surgeon at Boston City Hospital 19051907 Lahey became resident surgeon of the Haymarket Relief Station 1908 He was on the surgical faculty of Harvard Medical School 19081909 and 19121915 and served as professor of surgery at Tufts Medical School 19131917

Because of his strong educational influence Lahey is often regarded as one of Americas greatest teachers of surgery Gastroenterologist Sara Jordan MD one of the first to join Laheys practice published an article in the 1953 New England Journal of Medicine that noted quotHis skill brought hundreds of surgeons from all parts of the world to see him operate and to share with him the knowledge and experience he was always ready to pass on to othersquot

During World War I Lahey served as a major in the Army Medical Corps and director of surgery at Evacuation Hospital No 30 After his return from military service he opened a small practice on Beacon Street in Boston that was founded in 1923 as quotLahey Clinicquot

President Franklin D Roosevelt appointed Lahey to serve on a special commission to report on medical standards during World War II It was this and his extensive experience as a military surgeon that strengthened Laheys belief that anesthesia had created a new kind of surgery which was best performed and refined by teams of surgical specialists

Lahey held many influential leadership positions including president of the American Medical Society New England Surgical Society American Surgical Society and International Society of Surgeons He also operated on many notables in his lifetime including President Anastasio Somoza of Nicaragua

In 1946 Lahey was awarded the Henry Jacob Biglow Medal of the Boston Surgical Society in recognition of his surgical achievements

The life of Frank Lahey is best summed up by a speech that now resides in the United States Congressional Record When the House of Representatives met shortly after his death on June 27 1953 a memorial speech was delivered in his honor and concludes quotThe medical profession has lost one of its greatest members Massachusetts has lost a citizen who accepted with enthusiasm the broader responsibilities of his profession The world has lost a man who was unequaled in his services to mankindquot