Vim & Vigor - Fall 2018 - Community Healthcare - 7

Clinical Team Leader Justin Earl signals success
after the first transcatheter valve replacement.

technologies available can significantly
improve patient outcomes. That is why
for patients suffering from heart or
lung disorders, Community Healthcare
System's cardiothoracic team is helping to usher in the next generation of
surgical techniques and technologies for
patients across Northwest Indiana.
The latest addition to a team that
is offering leading-edge approaches
to heart and lung surgery is Michael
Eng, MD, FACC, who is fellowshiptrained in cardiothoracic surgery from
Yale University.
"Hospitals can always make a significant investment in technology and facilities and Community Healthcare System
has done this at Community Hospital,
St. Catherine Hospital and
St. Mary Medical Center," says Eng. "But
having a team with the skill set and experience to produce the best outcomes is
key to establishing a program that will
have a positive effect on the quality of life
for patients into the future."
In a region where lung cancer is highly
prevalent, the availability of appropriate
screening programs, early diagnosis and
effective treatments is indispensable.
For patients requiring lung surgery as
part of their treatment, the traditional
surgical approach usually means months
of recovery time.
Recently, Eng began performing
robot-assisted lung surgery at
Community Healthcare System. Robotic
thoracic surgery is gaining ground as
the preferred method of care for these
and other surgical procedures.
"The biggest advantage of using the
minimally invasive robotic approach
is that recovery time has been reduced
from months to only a few weeks or
days," adds Eng. "This has a significant
impact on the quality of our patients'
lives. Faster recovery times mean less

"Our hospitals are leading the way in providing
the most progressive and effective treatment
options for our patients." -Samer Abbas, MD
stress on the patient and their caregivers, and a return to normal living conditions at home or at work."
There are other advantages to robotassisted surgery as well, says Eng.
Visualization is better. Instead of looking through an incision in the chest,
surgeons can actually insert a camera
and look throughout the entire chest
cavity. Along with the wrist-like dexterity of the multiple robotic arms, they
can see and access locations that would
not be possible with traditional surgical methods.
While the use of robotics for lung surgery is quickly becoming more standardized, adoption of robotic cardiac surgery
has been slower.
"Outcomes for newer techniques or
technologies have to be as good or better than traditional procedures in order
for them to grow," says Eng. "Initially
for cardiac surgery, that was where
the industry was heading. Since that
initial push, the trend has leveled off

because outcomes just weren't as good.
However, I still believe there is a future
for it since our industry continues to
cultivate programs where surgeons can
gain the requisite amount of experience
to grow and improve."

Deep Bench of Experts

When it comes to heart and lung surgery, having facilities with the latest
tools and technologies is certainly optimal, but they are only as effective as the
people who use them.
Eng and his surgical colleagues work
closely with the strong team of interventional cardiologists throughout
Community Healthcare System's network of physicians. Collaboration is key
to ensuring patients receive the best
options of care for a wide variety of
heart and vascular conditions.
"Our hospitals are leading the way
in providing the most progressive
and effective treatment options for
our patients," says Samer Abbas, MD,
FALL 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vim & Vigor - Fall 2018 - Community Healthcare