Health in the City's Center

A Focus on Healthcare

Living in Downtown Raleigh just naturally seems to encourage leading a healthful lifestyle. A close proximity to work and play offers a decreased dependency on automobiles, which in turn can lead to lower stress levels from little or no commute and the opportunity to exercise regularly by walking or biking wherever you need or want to go. The availability of private and community downtown fitness centers adds to your options to help maintain good health. And knowing that outstanding medical centers nearby provide state-of-the-art healthcare services further improves your sense of well-being.

An 8 0-bed private, not-for-profit healthcare system, WakeMed is the closest medical facility to Downtown Raleigh and recognizes the significance of the confluence of the increased population of Downtown and the need for high-quality healthcare services. According to Debra Z. Laughery, Vice President of Public Relations, “What is key is the comprehensive nature of the services offered by Wake Med, straight down New Bern Avenue, just five minutes away.”

These services include Centers of Excellence—the Heart Center, Children’s Center, Women’s Pavilion and Birthplace, Emergency Services/Trauma, and Rehab. WakeMed’s orthopaedics department is a leader in hand and arthroscopic surgery and joint replacement. WakeMed is also home to one pediatric and five adult intensive care units, a Level IV intensive care nursery, a stroke center, and Healthworks, WakeMed Rehab’s medically directed fitness center. Other hospital services include inpatient and outpatient surgeru, oncology treatment, pathology, a neurodiagnostic sleep center, and diabetes and asthma management programs.

Additionally, WakeMed is the official healthcare partner of the YMCA of the Triangle, which opened the first phase of its exciting rebuilding project in August. The second phase of the new facility, scheduled for completion in the fall of 008, will be named the John M. Alexander Family YMCA and will house racquetball courts, a larger swimming pool and youth program space, and youth and family locker rooms, and outpatient physical therapy services by WakeMed.

“Through an alliance with the YMCA, WakeMed will provide community health education programs, screenings, and health fairs with special member discounts,” says Carol Clark, Vice President of Marketing & Communications. “The YMCA and WakeMed are collaborating to develop transitional exercise programs for individuals discharged from therapy. We are also working together to create programs to aid in injury and disease prevention. And, we are partnering to help youth and adults achieve and maintain healthy weights, through fitness and nutrition education programs.”

The completion of the new facilities will be “a tremendous advantage” to downtown residents, notes Laughery.

For over 100 years, Rex Healthcare has been committed to the health and well-being of the community. Located just outside the I-0 Beltline, this private, not-forprofit healthcare system features a 9 -bed acute care hospital, state-of-the-art emergency services department, heart and vascular center, family birth center, the first comprehensive cancer center in the state, same-day surgery center, convalescent care center, wellness center, pain management and sleep disorder clinics, and the Triangle’s first and only nationally accredited chest pain center.

According to Lisa Schiller, Director of Marketing, “The Rex ER treats 50-60,000 people each year,” and more surgical services are performed at Rex Healthcare and more babies are delivered at Rex Healthcare’s family birth center than at any other area hospital. Additionally, states Schiller, Rex Healthcare is “one of 17 hospitals in the country and the only one in North Carolina rated best for heart attack survival.” Schiller also notes that Rex has been home to the da Vinci® Surgical System for robotically assisted, minimally invasive surgery since the summer of 2006, and features the most technically advanced OR in the Southeast, with digital capabilities and cameras in the lights that can transmit information to physicians and other clinics, like the Mayo Clinic.

Starting in March of this year, endoscopic ultrasound, which allows physicians to see health conditions not always visible through PET or CT scans, became available. “We are the only ones [in the Triangle] with this technology,” says Melody Hunter-Pillion, Rex Media Relations. “We are the only ones in Wake County with a Wound Healing Center on our campus.”

Available since February 2007, it offers three hyperbaric chambers to treat hard-to-heal or chronic wounds. As part of the UNC Healthcare system, Rex offers patients the added benefits of access to clinical trials, as well as UNC’s technical expertise, medical professionals, and specialty clinics, like the UNC Women’s Specialty Center. And in addition to care at its main campus and physician practices, Rex Healthcare provides services at the Rex Senior Health Center in Downtown Raleigh and through Rex Home Services to homebound patients.

Conveniently located on Wake Forest Road, Duke Raleigh Hospital has been an important part of the world-renowned Duke University Health System since 1998, providing 186 beds and a comprehensive array of services.

The Duke Cancer Center Raleigh offers the latest diagnostic services, “featuring leading-edge technologies that provide earlier detection and treatment of many types of cancers and a radiation oncology treatment center equipped with highly-advanced radiation therapy resources,” says Paige Humble, Public Relations Specialist. Treatment focuses on collaborative care and includes emotional support and education for patients and their caregivers.

The Orthopaedic Center specializes “in conditions involving the back and neck, shoulders, hands, hips, knees, joints and the spine,” says Humble, and the Diabetes Center, recognized by the American Diabetes Association as an Abbot Diabetes Care Provider of the Year, provides self-management education and nutrition counseling.

Also available at Duke Raleigh Hospital are the Wound Healing Center, on-site cardiac rehabilitation and wellness services, an outpatient imaging center with state-of-the-art imaging technology, intensive care and telemetry units, a pain clinic, same-day surgery, an emergency department, and community outreach.

“Community education and support programs are offered regularly, including the Healthy Focus series of free community education seminars, health screenings, and a breast cancer support group, states Humble. “And Duke Raleigh’s award-winning nursing staff is recognized as the first hospital in the state with the North Carolina Nurses Association Hallmarks of Healthy Workplaces distinction. Worldclass care is close to downtown at Duke Raleigh Hospital.”

Downtown residents will find that many of their other healthcare needs are available right in the city’s center. Physicians, pharmacies, chiropractors, dentists, massage therapists, and complementary and alternative approaches to good health can be found just a few blocks away from your home or office. Coupled with the offerings of nearby medical facilities, these services help to ensure you enjoy a healthy, productive life in Downtown Raleigh.