|
|
| |
|
|
Everything in the Oregon Health & Science University Center for Women’s Health in the new Peter O. Kohler Pavilion is meant to enhance the patient experience while offering cutting-edge health care specifically designed for women.
The center boasts stunning views of Portland and Mt. Hood from the terrace, a tea bar, a shop, "Seasons," stocked with items of interest to women's health, a fully equipped test kitchen, three garden areas, three outdoor water fountains, local and nationally acclaimed paintings and sculptures, and a specially commissioned tapestry with artifacts from women's lives woven into it.
 “The space was designed to bring comfort and lift spirits,” said Joanna Cain, M.D., director of the OHSU Center for Women’s Health, and professor and chairwoman of obstetrics and gynecology in the OHSU School of Medicine.
The 30,000-square-foot center occupies the entire seventh floor of the new Peter O. Kohler Pavilion and includes the Women's Imaging Center, and The Breast Center at OHSU, a collaboration of the OHSU Cancer Institute and the Center for Women's Health. A public open house is planned for Sunday, June 4, from 1 to 4 p.m. for the new building. It will officially open to patients Monday, June 26.
The new center is a collaboration among patient advocates, care providers, researchers and community volunteers to create a more comprehensive and compassionate model for addressing women’s health concerns. They voted on decor and chose a palette of earthy shades of green, tan and bronze, comfortable homey furniture, rich cherry wood cabinetry and frosted-art glass windows etched with northwest-themed graphics such as mountains and trees.
The center's guiding concept is to serve women throughout all life stages. For the young, there are nutrition programs, support groups, stress management, high-risk pregnancy and fertility care. For those in midlife, there is menopause guidance, a multidisciplinary approach to cancers, including full breast services, unique imaging linked directly to a comprehensive care plan, screening for early development of heart disease and integrative medicine. For mature women, the center offers post-menopausal care, screenings for bone density, osteoporosis care and prevention, and senior nutrition
The new breast center at OHSU will offer the convenience of the following integrated services in one setting: breast imaging, diagnostic-guided biopsies and access to dedicated breast nurse coordinators and expert breast surgeons, according to Arpana Naik, M.D., breast center medical director.
Another of the new features is the expanded OHSU Women’s Imaging Center offering: immediate diagnosis for patients, state-of-the-art digital mammography services; a secondary reading with computer-aided diagnosis; ultrasound; and bone density and osteoporosis scanning services, (called DEXA). Women will have access to rapid diagnosis because both imaging and physician services are located in the same space, according to Erwin Schwarz, director of OHSU Diagnostic Imaging Services. He spearheaded the planning of the new Women’s Imaging Center.
The imaging center is designed to feel like a day spa. Women put on fluffy, terry-cloth robes in private dressing rooms and can push a button to let technicians know they’re ready. There are eight private dressing rooms featuring cherry wood cabinetry, a soft-green color palette, doors with opaque glass inlays and full-length mirrors.
In addition to offering leading-edge technology and world-class care, the facility has been designed to improve patients’ comfort and well-being with such enhancements as gardens with fountains, sculptures, a meditation area and a child play area on the terrace overlooking the city. The gardens were designed and planted by the Portland Garden Club, Hort 5. Candace Smith, a professional landscape designer and club volunteer, said that her group asked women what they would like in the garden. Many women said they wanted plants that reminded them of soothing or happy memories, such as when they visited their grandmothers' gardens. Smith picked colorful and fragrant plants, such as dogwoods, magnolias, rhododendrons, gingko, peonies and cherry trees to create the feel of someone's home garden.
|
|
|
