In Brief
Golisano Children’s Hospital at the Medical Center has been listed among the nation’s best hospitals for four pediatric specialties—gastroenterology, neonatology, orthopaedics, and neurology and neurosurgery. The annual rankings, to be published in August in U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hospitals 2013 Guidebook, are based on data submitted by nearly 180 pediatric institutions nationwide. Each of the past four years, Golisano Children’s Hospital has added a specialty to the rankings, starting in 2009 with orthopaedics, which ranked No. 38 this year. Neonatology ranked No. 27; gastroenterology, which is new to the list this year, ranked No. 41, and neurology and neurosurgery ranked No. 44.
—Heather Hare
OVATION: The renovation of Kodak Hall earned accolades from a statewide preservation group. (Photo: Kurt Brownell for the Eastman School)Eastman Renovation Honored
A $46.9 million project to renovate Eastman Theatre’s historic performance hall, now named Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre, as well as the addition of the Eastman East Wing has been recognized by a New York preservation group. The Preservation League of New York State presented the Eastman School with its Excellence in Historic Preservation Award for the multiyear project that was completed with the opening of the Eastman East Wing in December 2010. The award honors notable achievements in retaining, promoting, and reusing the state’s architectural heritage. Project architects Chaintreuil Jensen Stark Architects and contractors the Pike Company and A’Kustics were also recognized. The project received support from the state of New York as well as area businesses and community leaders.
—Helene Snihur
Surgeons Implant Upstate New York’s First Total Artificial Heart
A 49-year-old man became the first person in the region served by the Medical Center to receive a total artificial heart during an operation performed this spring by a Rochester cardiac transplant team. The procedure introduces a new, life-sustaining treatment option for the most critically ill patients with end-stage heart failure. “This is tremendous technology that can have a dramatic effect on patients who are experiencing advanced heart failure,” says H. Todd Massey, surgical director of the Medical Center’s Artificial Heart Program, who led the surgery.
The Medical Center is one of 30 sites in the country, and one of just two in New York, to offer the technology. The artificial heart is a bridge to transplant for patients who suffer from end-stage biventricular heart failure, a condition in which both sides of the heart become weakened and can’t pump blood adequately through the body.
—Leslie White
New Website Gathers Information about International Initiatives
The University has launched a new web portal, UR Global, that serves as a hub for learning about Rochester’s international activities. Intended for use by students and parents, researchers and faculty, and alumni and friends, the site provides information on global partnerships, research, and educational programs, as well as opportunities to be involved and stay connected around the world. The site serves as a clearinghouse for data, including facts like the number of alumni living outside the United States (10,748), the location of research projects across the globe, and details about travel alerts and other information for those going abroad. Visit the site at www.rochester.edu/global.
