Next-Century Care
In addition to renovations to the lobby flooring, in June 2024, a new café called Healing Grounds opened with grab-and-go dining options, a permanent gift shop, and updated flooring. These enhancements are designed with the aim of improving the overall experience for everyone who walks through our doors.
Arnold Sarazen, MD, Chief of Surgery and Urology at South County Health, performed the first Aquablation procedure at South County Hospital on January 20, 2024. This procedure, Aquablation therapy, is the latest in medical technology for men suffering from Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH), also known as enlarged prostate.
Now available at South County Hospital, Aquablation therapy is an advanced, minimally invasive treatment that allows our surgeons to use the power of water delivered with robotic precision to provide long-lasting BPH relief without compromise and minimal risk of irreversible complications like incontinence, erectile dysfunction, and ejaculatory dysfunction, all with a fast recovery time.
“We are proud to be the first in Southern Rhode Island to offer a solution for men with BPH that provides significant, long-lasting symptom relief, with lower risk to sexual function and continence,” said Arnold Sarazen, MD, Chief of Surgery, Chief of Urology, South County Health. “Aquablation therapy is the next step to furthering our commitment to innovation and providing access to new technological advancements to our community. Being able to provide this treatment, right here in South County, is going to significantly improve the lives of our patients.”
BPH has been in the global spotlight over the last few weeks. In late January, King Charles III made his struggle with the health problem public as a way of sending a message to other men to get their prostates checked. Following the disclosure, the English National Health Service website saw a surge in searches about enlarged prostates, an interest welcomed by doctors and charities.
A statement from Buckingham Palace said the King was "delighted to learn that his diagnosis is having a positive impact on public health awareness." The Urology team at South County Health is hopeful that this increased awareness will be of benefit to local patients.
Aquablation therapy is performed by board-certified surgeons specializing in urology using the AquaBeam® Robotic System. The procedure combines real-time, multi-dimensional imaging, automated robotics, and heat-free waterjet ablation for targeted, controlled, and immediate removal of prostate tissue. This technology allows for the creation of a personalized treatment plan tailored to each patient’s anatomy. Aquablation therapy is performed under anesthesia in South County Hospital’s operating room. The procedure typically takes about an hour, and patients typically stay overnight in private rooms in our 5-star, award-winning inpatient surgical units.
Now available at South County Hospital, Aquablation therapy is an advanced, minimally invasive treatment that allows our surgeons to use the power of water delivered with robotic precision to provide long-lasting BPH relief without compromise and minimal risk of irreversible complications like incontinence, erectile dysfunction, and ejaculatory dysfunction, all with a fast recovery time.
On Tuesday, June 6, South County Health marked the Grand Opening of the new Balise Entrance with a Ribbon Cutting Event.
The new entrance, formerly the West Entrance, provides improved Hospital access to patients and visitors. Inpatient and Outpatient Surgical patients, Diagnostic Imaging, and all Hospital visitors are encouraged to utilize this entrance, where they will be directed to proceed to the Patient Information Desk. Use of this new entrance will improve patient and visitor access as dedicated parking spaces are adjacent to the new entrance.
On Monday, February 13, 2023, Dr. Joseph Brady reached a milestone after completing the 1,000th robotic-assisted surgery of his career. A general surgeon at South County Health since 2017, Dr. Brady, achieved this milestone during a routine gall bladder surgery using the assistance of the da Vinci Xi Surgical System.
On Wednesday, March 1, 2023, Dr. Bob Marchand of Ortho Rhode Island reached a global milestone after becoming the first orthopedic surgeon in the world to complete their 9,000th Mako-assisted procedure. As part of Ortho Rhode Island’s pioneering joint replacement team, Dr. Marchand is one of the foremost robotic surgeons in the world.
Ortho Rhode Island surgeon Michael P. Bradley, MD, MBA, MS completed a reverse shoulder arthroplasty, more commonly known as a reverse shoulder replacement, using the FX V135™ implant, at South County Hospital. The surgery took place in late July and was the first surgery to employ this technology in the United States. The landmark procedure was performed at the Center for Advanced Orthopedic Surgery, a partnership between Ortho Rhode Island and South County Health. The surgery is part of Ortho Rhode Island’s mission to pioneer orthopedic treatments that make care more patient-centered.
Kevin P. Charpentier, MD has been named Vice President, South County Medical Group and Chief Medical Officer at South County Health. His position on the Executive Leadership Team began July 5, 2022.
On March 29, 2022, the Radiation Therapy facility at 142 Kenyon Avenue reopened under the new ownership of South County Health after months of renovations and technology upgrades.
The acquisition and upgrades are part of South County Health’s strategic plan to make access to high quality healthcare readily available to patients.
Among the improvements South County Health made to the radiation therapy department was the installation of a new, state-of-the-art Varian TrueBeam Linear Accelerator.
This technology upgrade improves the precision of radiation delivery that targets the tumor while minimizing damage to healthy tissue that surrounds the cancerous area.
South County Health is one of only five radiation therapy facilities in Rhode Island, making this form of treatment available to patients in southern Rhode Island.
Medical technology and compassionate care
The Varian TrueBeam Linear Accelerator complements the 3- and 4-D technology, and advanced imaging capabilities offered that promotes optimal tumor management.
South County Health Radiation Therapy provides services to patients of South County Health and patients referred from other providers.
Services offered:
- Individualized and compassionate patient care
- Coordinated care with South County Hospital Medical Oncology and referral providers
- Comprehensive Multidisciplinary Care
- Oncology Trained Nursing
- Nutritional Services
- Social Services
- Transportation Services (Call 401-788-1178 for schedule and availability.)
Our recently renovated and upgraded facility offers:
- A new radiation vault to house a state-of-the-art Linear Accelerator
- A redesigned control room for the CT scan technology
- New heating, ventilation, air conditioning system (HVAC) to ensure climate control for patient comfort and cleanliness of the air
- Our innovative technologies offer advanced imaging options, precision radiation targeting, and tumor motion management
- Varian “TrueBeam” Linear Accelerator
- GE “Optima” 16 slice CT Simulator
- 3-D Conformal Radiation Therapy (3D-CRT)
- Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT)
- Image-Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT)
- Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT)
- 4D-CT simulations
- Deep Inspiration Breath Hold (DIBH)
- Stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR)
On February 14, 2022 South County Health opened a new Medical & Wellness Center at 120 Centerville Road in Warwick, offering convenient, high-quality care to the growing number of patients in Rhode Island.
The South County Health Medical and Wellness Center in Warwick provides an array of practices and services similar to those found at its counterpart locations in East Greenwich and Westerly.
Renovations to the 14,000 square foot facility began in August 2021, resulting in a spacious, modern medical facility with state-of-the-art technology used in the diagnosis and treatment of a variety of specialties.
South County Health recently launched its “Get Care NOW” online portal to help patients with non-life-threatening injuries and illnesses access care with less wait time.
A link to the portal can be found on the healthcare system’s website homepage – southcountyhealth.org – or by typing getcare.southcountyhealth.org in your internet address bar.
Using the portal, patients can view the approximate wait times at the location of their choice – Express Care in East Greenwich and Westerly, and at the South County Hospital Emergency Department.
In addition, patients can click the ‘Get in Line’ function before leaving for the location to ensure that the time spent traveling for care means less time spent sitting in the waiting room.
For those occasions when patients can wait to see a provider, the ‘Save Your Spot’ function allows patients to schedule a time in the Express Care or Emergency Department later the same day or the following day.
These options are designed for non-life-threatening conditions only and are used with the understanding that patients who arrive before or after a patient who used Get Care NOW and have a serious medical condition that needs immediate attention will be triaged accordingly.
LOCATIONS
South County Health’s Express Care locations currently include East Greenwich and Westerly, with an additional location opening in Warwick in early 2022.
Express Care – East Greenwich
3461 South County Trail (Rte. 2)
Express Care – Westerly
268 Post Rd. (Rte. 1)
South County Hospital Emergency Department - Wakefield
100 Kenyon Avenue
For detailed info about our Emergency Department and Fast Track, as well as our ongoing facility upgrades, visit our South County Health Upgrades website.
South County Health recently launched its “Get Care NOW” online portal to help patients with non-life-threatening injuries and illnesses access care with less wait time.
In line with South County Health’s recently announced two-year, multi-million-dollar construction plan that will upgrade and expand its facilities and implement additional technologies to improve patient care options, the healthcare system is rolling out a new logo as part of its rebrand.
South County Health’s President and CEO, Aaron Robinson, says the new logo reflects the healthcare system’s contemporary and enduring commitment to innovation, quality, and advanced medicine focused on the patient.
“We want healthcare consumers to recognize South County Health as what we are: an innovator; a model health system; the quality leader; and a system that focuses on the patient as Rhode Island’s Most Trusted Health Partner.”
Robinson adds that the similar color scheme maintains South County Health’s historical palate while reflecting the contemporary healthcare being delivered by the system.
The “refresh” of the South County Health brand will affect every department and facility across the organization. The new logo was introduced to staff at a recent Employee Town Hall meeting and the public rollout will begin immediately. The healthcare system’s website – www.southcountyhealth.org – has been redesigned with the new logo and color palette, and the new look will begin to appear on patient forms and other collaterals as soon as this week. Interior and exterior signage, including the wave crest logo affixed to the hospital tower, will soon be replaced. An interactive patient-centered app will follow later this summer.
At South County Health’s 2021 Annual Meeting held on Monday, April 26, Joseph F. Matthews was named chairman of South County Health’s Board of Trustees, succeeding the position formerly held by outgoing chairman Dennis Lynch.
South County Hospital expanded its surgical capabilities with the opening of a new operating room on February 1st.
This brings the hospital’s total to seven operating rooms in the surgical suite. An additional OR is located in the Women and Newborn Care Unit specifically for obstetrical procedures.
The addition is part of an ongoing improvement plan that will better equip South County Health to expand its resources to improve patient care and make high quality medical services more accessible.
OR-7, as it is known among hospital staff, is the largest operating room of the seven. It was designed to accommodate South County Hospital’s da Vinci XI robotic surgery technology, including specialized overhead lighting that enhances the surgeons’ vision when using the robotic technology for less invasive surgical procedures.
South County Hospital and Ortho Rhode Island are celebrating the 10 Year Anniversary of Stryker’s Mako SmartTechnologyTM, the first to bring this technology to Rhode Island.
South County Hospital’s commitment to purchase this state of the art equipment, along with Ortho Rhode Island’s skilled physicians, returned mobility to 10,000 patients who previously suffered from hip and knee pain — positioning them as the global leader in number of Mako surgeries performed.
South County Health has named Anitra L. Galmore, RN, BSN, MS, NEA-BC, as Vice President & Chief Nursing Officer/Chief Operating Officer. She joined the health system on April 6.
In this capacity, Anitra will oversee and lead South County Health system in its continuing efforts to improve patient care and operational efficiencies.
Along with other health organizations around the world, South County Health begins monitoring and planning its response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to ensure patients, staff, and visitors are safe.
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South County Health has a rich, 100+ year history of being Rhode Island's Most Trusted Health Partner. In 2019, as South County Health celebrated its Centennial Year, Aaron Robinson was named president/CEO, replacing Lou Giancola who retired after an 18 year career in that role.
Centennial Origins Story - Part 1
South County Health announces that Aaron Robinson will become the organization’s President/CEO starting April 1, 2019.
Dr. Ian Madom, an orthopedic spine surgeon at Ortho Rhode Island, made history by performing Rhode Island’s first navigation-guided, robotic-assisted spine surgery.
Dr. Madom successfully completed a lumbar decompression and spinal fusion on January 7, 2019 at South County Hospital, with the aid of ExcelsiusGPS, a technology that uses 3-D imaging and a robotic arm to guide surgeons in planning and performing safer, less invasive, and more accurate spine operations.
President and CEO Louis R. Giancola announces plans to retire after 18 years at the helm – a tenure that has encompassed establishment of South County Health as a regional center for high-quality care, with facilities extending from East Greenwich to Westerly. Giancola cultivated a culture of clinical innovation and collegial respect, brought multiple new therapies, programs, and facilities to our community, led a talented staff to earn many national awards for patient satisfaction, safety, and quality of care, and sustained the financial viability of our hospital.
Building on our surgeons’ reputation for performance of life-changing robotic-assisted orthopedic surgery, our hospital invests in the specialized surgical talent of Joseph Renzulli, MD, and the da Vinci Xi Surgical System – technology that supports robotic-assisted surgery for urological procedures, saving lives and preserving quality of life, with less pain and shorter recovery times for prostatectomies and other procedures.
South County Hospital intensifies its commitment to surgical innovation. Our hospital continues to strengthen its role as a global leader in Mako robotic-assisted knee replacement surgery as one of seven sites selected for participation in a clinical trial evaluating use of the technology in total knee replacement. Dr. Robert Marchand then launches the world’s first commercial release of the robotic full knee replacement procedure. Surgeons from across the United States and around the world observe the surgery – both in person and virtually, via cameras in a specially-equipped OR. Thousands of patients from throughout Rhode Island, and far beyond come to our hospital – a Blue Distinction Center for hip and knee replacement – to undergo the life-changing procedure.
An expanded and redesigned Women & Newborn Care Unit opens on the second floor of the Read Wing – adding two additional labor-delivery-recovery rooms), a new nursery, and a state-of-the-art, in-unit operating room. As the home of South County’s only inpatient obstetrical unit, our hospital is now delivering more than 650 babies every year.
Our Community Cancer Center, funded mainly by local philanthropy, opens on the first floor of the Read Wing. Reflecting best practices in cancer care, the new Center delivers collaborative, interdisciplinary care – including infusion therapy, patient education, nutrition counseling, physician visits, and more – under one roof. Our Community Cancer Center will provide care for more than 1,300 patients within the first two months of its opening.
South County Health opens a new Medical & Wellness Center in Westerly – offering urgent/walk-in care, outpatient obstetric/gynecological care, x-rays and ultrasound, mammography, dermatology, behavioral health care, laboratory services, wound care, podiatry, and more.
South County Health is born. Our name now reflects all that we do – through care provided in the hospital, in the home, and in community-based medical practices, as well as through collaborative population health initiatives – to build a healthier South County.
The American Nurses Credentialing Center recognizes South County Hospital with a Pathways to Excellence designation, in acknowledgment of our hospital’s supportive nursing culture. The designation is renewed in 2018.
With the arrival of the first Mako robot at South County Hospital, Robert Marchand, MD and his colleagues at South County Orthopedics (later to become Orthopedics RI-South County) use Mako robotic-assisted technology to bring revolutionary advances in orthopedic surgery to our community.
The hospital opens a new Medical and Wellness Center – featuring obstetrical and gynecological care as well as mammography, x-ray, lab, physical therapy, and urgent care services – in East Greenwich.
The new Frost Family Pavilion opens, offering private patient rooms – some with a view of Salt Pond – as well as more efficient work stations for nurses and other care team members and a tube system for transport of blood samples and small supplies. The facility is named in memory of Tina Read Frost, the late wife of Frederick G. Frost, chair of the Board of Trustees and the daughter of Frederic B. Read, for whom the Read Wing is named.
A 10-bed Orthopedic Unit opens on Borda II, creating a “hospital within a hospital” that anchors our growth as a center of excellence in leading-edge orthopedic surgery.
Volunteer Services launches a patient escort program to guide patients and visitors through our expanding hospital. The Volunteer Services department will grow to include over 300 people who collectively donate approximately 40,000 hours of service each year. The South County Hospital Auxiliary continues to fundraise, contributing more than $1.5 million since its founding through the Coffee Shop, Gift Shop, and Annual Fashion Show.
A new Emergency Room opens – along with a new Diagnostic Imaging Department offering MRI and interventional radiology services. The hospital’s Main Entrance moves to the south side of the campus.
Louis R. Giancola is named Interim President and CEO. His appointment will become permanent, and he will lead our hospital for nearly two decades – to the cusp of our second century.
20th Century Innovation
South County Hospital supports young people in our community by establishing the Conrad-Nestor Scholarship, named for beloved and respected surgeons Robert L. Conrad, MD, and Thomas A. Nestor, MD, both of whom served on the hospital’s medical staff with distinction for more than four decades and made major contributions to advancing high-quality care in Rhode Island.
The new South County Women’s Health Center, located in the newly-constructed Medical Office Building, is dedicated with a proclamation from Governor Lincoln Almond.
Rhode Island is gripped by a meningitis outbreak. South County Hospital vaccinates 13,000 young people in one day during a Saturday clinic at South Kingstown High School.
South County Hospital combines its home health services with those of VNS HomeCare and Westerly Hospital, forming what will become the regionwide agency known as South County Home Health. Since the early 1900s, prior to the building of our hospital, our community has relied on the services of visiting nurses to provide compassionate and skilled health care to their families, friends, and neighbors in the comfort of their own homes.
South County Hospital adopts a new model in obstetrical care – opening the first of its labor-delivery-recovery rooms, providing new mothers with a comfortable birthing environment and the option of rooming in with their babies, and offering the support of two maternity nurses who are certified lactation consultants.
South County Health is the first hospital in Rhode Island to receive the WHO/UNICEF Baby FriendlyTM designation, awarded to hospitals that offer an optimal level of care for infant feeding and mother/baby bonding.
Hurricane Bob, a Category 2 storm with winds of 100 mph, causes widespread damage throughout South County. Our hospital serves more than 1,300 free meals to people in our community during the storm.
A new, 18,000-square foot surgical pavilion – featuring a new, two-story atrium, as well as four operating rooms and two endoscopy suites – is dedicated. The new facility will facilitate 4,085 surgical procedures in 1988.
Outgoing CEO Donald Ford submits his final annual report, a document that encapsulates South County Hospital’s entry into a new technological age – detailing such advancements as a Cardiopulmonary Services Department, installation of our hospital’s first CT scanner, acquisition of a laser for microsurgical treatment of the eye, and a state-of-the-art Trauma Unit.
South County Hospital and the town of South Kingstown collaborate to expand the hospital campus – with the hospital buying six acres of adjacent land from the town for $225,000. The town then spends $250,000 to purchase 65 acres of new recreational land on Tuckertown Road.
The new Read Wing – replacing 57 beds in the original hospital structure and adding a new maternity department, expanded coronary care ICU, outpatient surgical facilities, a new pharmacy, and expanded central sterile supply, is dedicated in honor of Frederic B. Read, Jr., who served as president of the Board of Trustees from 1962-1985. The original hospital building is renamed in honor of longtime treasurer and tireless advocate Benjamin R. Sturges, Caroline Hazard’s great-nephew. Sturges served as a hospital friend, benefactor, and trustee for thirty years.
On May 19, 1973, the charter fishing boat Comet sinks off Point Judith, killing 16 people. Another 10 are rescued and brought to South County Hospital by Coast Guard Navy helicopters. The following February, facilitated by Robert L. Conrad, MD, the first hospital helipad in Rhode Island opens at our hospital.
The first laparoscope in Rhode Island is used, introducing minimal surgical incisions for our patients.
Built in 1970 and expanded over the course of a decade, the Borda Wing – made possible by federal funding and a generous gift from Emilie Bell Obnovlenski-Thompson and her daughter, Emilie Luiza Borda – heralds a new era in care, shaped by technological advancement, treatment innovations, and shorter inpatient stays. The state-of-the-art facility features extended-care rooms, physical therapy and rehab, an expanded x-ray facility and sunroom, new clinical labs, and a new Emergency Department.
Miss Edna Otto, RN joins the hospital as Director of Nursing. She will serve in this capacity – presiding over an era of excellence and growth in nursing – until 1984.
Joseph O’Neill, MD joins the hospital staff as its first Board-certified obstetrician. He will later be joined in practice by his brother, Robert O’Neill, MD in 1972. General surgeon, Robert L. Conrad, MD, also joins the staff becoming instrumental in improving the facilities, staff, and patient care at our hospital until his retirement in 2000.
With surgical volume increasing to more than 600 procedures annually, another new wing – encompassing a new surgical suite, new laboratories, and 11 more beds – opens. The dietary wing opens. And the hospital’s first clinical lab, staffed by graduates of URI’s new Medical Lab Technology Program, commences operation. By 1977, the hospital will be performing 275,345 lab tests annually.
Donald L. Ford – South County Hospital’s longest-serving CEO, with a tenure that will last until 1986 – is hired as our hospital’s first full-time administrator. A registered nurse, with hospital administration experience in Chicago and Philadelphia, Ford will shape South County Health as a patient-centered, high-tech community hospital – creating the culture and physical infrastructure needed to support Board-certified physicians and surgeons, stellar nurses, and other health care professionals in providing care of the highest quality to our community.
Dr. John J. Walsh, Jr. joins the hospital staff as its first Board-certified surgeon. Dr. Walsh will become the longest-serving physician in our history, retiring in 1990 as chief of surgery and continuing to practice in the Emergency Department until January 2011 serving a total of 57 years. Dr. Walsh continues as a volunteer in the ED, giving more than 500 hours from 2011-2014.
The Hazard Wing – our hospital’s first major addition, housing additional patient rooms and bassinets, expanded x-ray facility, and laundry and laboratory facilities – is dedicated in memory of T.G. Hazard, Jr., Caroline Hazard’s brother.
Frederick R. Hazard of Saunderstown leads 200 volunteers, including local Rainbow Girls and Girl Scout troops, in collecting and selling donated stamps in support of the hospital. A lobby gift counter, sponsored by a different South County town each month, sells handcrafted items, baked goods, eggs, and locally-grown vegetables donated by our community.
Origins
World War II ends. South County’s nurses come home – relieving scores of Girl Scouts and other volunteers who helped take care of our patients in their absence. To head off future nursing shortages, Rhode Island State College (now the University of Rhode Island) announces plans for a new course in nursing education.
The tiniest babies in the hospital’s history – twin boys – are delivered at six months’ gestation in May. One, weighing only one pound at birth, does not survive. His twin, born at 1 pound, 14 ounces survives. Kept in an incubator, fed whiskey and water around the clock by nurses, the boy is discharged in September, weighing 5 pounds.
South County Hospital withstands the fury of the Hurricane of ’38 – with a 3-day power loss and one beam blown off the garage roof.
The Great Depression deepens. South County Hospital’s losses mount. Recruited by the hospital’s newly formed Auxiliary, volunteers from every town sponsor vital hospital needs and functions, from drugs and surgical dressings to the operations of the delivery room and operating room.
A generous gift from Leonard Bacon and his sister, Susan Keith – in memory of their parents, Nathaniel Bacon and Helen Hazard Bacon, Caroline Hazard’s sister – makes it possible to build Bacon House, a “nurses’ home”, on the hospital grounds. Six new patient care wards open on the third floor of the hospital, in space that previously housed nurses.
The Narragansett Times reports that Henry Hoyle of Beaver River Valley, Richmond, was operated on for appendicitis at “the new South County Hospital” – likely the first surgical procedure to take place in the new building.
The new South County Hospital opens on November 28. Dr. and Mrs. Jones purchase Watson House. They will live there until 1962.
In response to increasing need, our community raises $266,266.55 to replace the cottage hospital with a new facility on six acres of land donated by the town of South Kingstown. Contractor Louis F. Bell of Wakefield oversees construction.
In the wake of the 1918 influenza pandemic, Miss Caroline Hazard spearheads the drive to establish a cottage hospital for South County. Our community raises $4,950 to purchase Watson House on Kenyon Avenue in Wakefield. John Paul Jones, MD, returning from overseas service in World War I, staffs the new hospital in partnership with his wife, Carolyn Jones, RN. Over the next six years, the South County Cottage Hospital will perform 95 surgical procedures and care for more than 1,300 patients.
