Hospital opens ‘1st of its kind’ new interventional radiology suite
A Wisconsin hospital recently began welcoming patients to a “first of its kind” new interventional radiology suite.
Madison-headquartered UW Health Kids officially announced the rollout of its new IR offering on July 16. The pediatric provider said it will utilize Allia Moveo—an advanced image-guided therapy system from GE HealthCare deployed at hybrid operating rooms—in its operations.
UW Health believes this is the fourth such suite of its kind in the world and the first in all of pediatric interventional radiology. The hospital intends to use this technology both in research and for patient care.
“Our care team supports all kinds of patients, from those with vascular disorders to those with cancer, performing a wide range of procedures and interventions such as placing catheters, performing biopsies and more,” Eric Monroe, MD, an IR specialist with UW Health, said in a statement. “This new space is going to enable us to perform all these vital services for so many more patients moving forward.”
Monroe and colleagues said the suite will serve patients in the hospital while also being available for outpatient procedures. It features several advanced technologies that allow for flexible use of the space. These include a C-arm equipped with AI support, allowing the care team to move the imaging device around the patient during procedures. UW also will deploy other technologies such as 3D imaging and advanced navigation tools.
The University of Wisconsin expects to double the number of IR procedures performed annually at American Family Children’s Hospital, following the suite’s opening in June.
“When I got here in 2021, we did about 300 interventional radiology procedures per year, and now we’re up to 800,” Monroe added. “But we still saw delays or patients going elsewhere because we didn’t have the space to care for the volume of patients we would have liked to.”
The move also will expand available space in pediatric interventional cardiology, with UW’s IR team previously sharing real estate with its colleagues. It additionally will boost capacity in operating rooms at the children’s hospital, enabling more care to be delivered in the minimally invasive suite. Monroe hopes the suite’s launch will help with recruiting.
“We have the best team and want to be sure we’ve also got the best tools that ensure the best people want to come work with us here in Wisconsin,” he added.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.