On January 21, guests filled the Freeman Outpatient Center reception area to celebrate the grand opening of the Joslin Diabetes Center Affiliate at Shore Health System and the Kidney Transplant Clinic, both located at The Memorial Hospital at Easton.
“While every grand opening is a time to celebrate, I am especially proud of what we are doing today,” said Gerard Walsh, Chief Operating Officer for Shore Health System. “These programs are the types of world class clinical programs made possible because of our partnership with the University of Maryland Medical System and the School of Medicine.”
Walsh continued, “Our affiliation with the Joslin Diabetes Center and our participation in the University of Maryland Medical Center Transplant Program serves the growing number of people whose health is jeopardized by diabetes and related kidney diseases.”
The Joslin Diabetes Center, which is based in Boston and affiliated with Harvard Medical School, is the foremost diabetes research, clinical care and education center in the world. Founded in 1898 by Dr. Elliott P. Joslin, the center focuses on a single disease, which allows its 700 clinical experts to discover, create and distribute new knowledge about diabetes prevention, treatment options and research.
The Shore Health System Kidney Transplant Clinic is an offshoot of the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) Division of Transplantation. Founded in 1968, this program has established an international reputation for innovation, technical excellence and exceptionally high success rates. A multidisciplinary team of specialists offer outstanding and highly individualized care to all transplant patients. As many as 500 transplants a year are performed at UMMC, one of world’s busiest and biggest transplant centers.
In his comments to the open house guests, E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, Dean of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, “This is an example of what we can collectively do to improve the lives of our patients. I look forward to building on this solid foundation as we grow together in the future.”
Next at the podium was Priya Krishnamurthy, MD, MPH, Medical Director of the Joslin Diabetes Center Affiliate at Shore Health System. She recounted how, as a young physician in Iowa, she started a diabetes clinic. “This experience showed me what a few dedicated people can do with the support of the community,” she said. Citing Maryland as the state with the eighth highest prevalence of diabetes in the country, she added, “The proportion of people diagnosed with diabetes is phenomenal even when compared to other diseases, such as cancer and heart disease.”
Dr. Krishnamurthy added, “Prevention provides an important part of diabetes care. That is why the Joslin Center is so valuable. We offer medical care along with personalized diet, weight loss and exercise support.”
Nancy Barger, RN, CDE, Manager of the Joslin Diabetes Center Affiliate at SHS, followed Dr. Krishnamurthy with praise for their staff and thanks for the Willow Construction team, who renovated the space where the clinic operates today. She added that her team of nurses and diabetes educators routinely refer patients to other Shore Health System services, such as the Wound Healing Center, Shore Comprehensive Pain Care, the lab and Radiology as they require other resources to manage their diabetes.
Also on hand for the celebration was Stephen Bartlett, MD, Chairman of the Department of Surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and UMMC and the Barbara Baur Dunlap Professor of transplant surgery. Dr. Bartlett was responsible for revitalizing the UMMC Kidney Transplant Program when he arrived in 1991. Under his leadership, the Division of Transplantation has developed one of the nation’s biggest and most innovative organ transplant programs in the US. When he was made Chief of Surgery, Dr. Bartlett handed over leadership for the transplant program to Benjamin Philosophe, MD, who has continued to build the program’s reputation. Susan Ostovitz, BSN, RN, MBA, is the UMMC Transplant Administrator.
Dr. Bartlett, who was born in Cambridge, said, “It’s great to be back home.” Commenting on the reason these world class clinical programs have been established on the Eastern Shore, he said, “Easton sits in the triangle of the greatest population growth in Maryland and Delaware.”
Adam Weinstein, MD, Medical Director of the Kidney Transplant Clinic, closed the program by acknowledging his fellow nephrologists, Anish Hinduja, MD, and Christina Turner, MD, as well as Transplant Clinic Coordinator Trish Rosenberry, RN. Dr. Weinstein, who earned his medical degree at the University of Maryland School of Medica and completed a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in nephrology at UMMC, said, “I thank Shore Health System for allowing me and my partners to practice in collaboration with a growing healthcare system.”
Following the ribbon cutting ceremony, the open house guests toured the Kidney Transplant Clinic and the Joslin Diabetes Center clinic, where they had an opportunity to meet the staff and learn more about the services they provide.