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Edited by: TJVNews.com
Northwell Lenox Hill Hospital has been presented with the AORN Go Clear™ Award, deeming it a Center of Excellence in Surgical Safety: Smoke Evacuation. The three-year distinction, granted by the Association of Perioperative Registered Nurses (AORN), is given to hospitals that are deeply committed to patient and staff safety by ensuring a smoke-free environment wherever surgical smoke is generated. This year, only 37 hospitals across the United States were granted this honor.
All medical facilities receiving the award are required to meet the highest standards of education performance and smoke evacuation compliance. They must also have a smoke evacuator for every operating room that generates surgical smoke. Lenox Hill Hospital received the award after a rigorous review process in which clinicians demonstrated expert knowledge of surgical smoke and its dangers, implemented smoke evacuation for six months for all procedures that generated smoke, and completed post-testing and compliance auditing.
Additional 2023 Northwell Health winners include Ambulatory Surgery at the Center for Advanced Medicine at Long Island Jewish Medical Center and the Alvin & Dorothy Schwartz Ambulatory Surgery Center at North Shore University Hospital. Northwell’s Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital and Plainview Hospital are also current Centers of Excellence in Surgical Safety: Smoke Evacuation after winning the three-year recognition in 2022 and 2021, respectively.
“This award underscores the fact that at Lenox Hill, the health and safety of our patients and employees are our top priorities,” said Eleonora Shapiro, DNP, MHA, CNOR, NEA-BC, associate executive director of perioperative services at Northwell Lenox Hill Hospital. “As a clinical leader, I’m grateful to all the team members who implemented these smoke evacuation measures to further ensure world-class surgical care at our facility.”
Surgical smoke is a hazardous byproduct of any surgery involving a laser or an electrosurgical unit. Although research, professional organizations, and the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) identified surgical smoke as harmful many years ago, this byproduct continues to be a safety hazard in many operating rooms. The Center of Excellence in Surgical Safety: Smoke Evacuation (Go Clear™) Program was developed to help perioperative teams enhance safety levels and protect staff and patients from the hazards of surgical smoke.
In addition to ensuring safety in the operating room, Northwell Lenox Hill Hospital is internationally recognized for superior surgical outcomes across multiple disciplines. U.S. News and World Report, rated the medical center among the top-50 hospitals in the nation for cardiology and heart surgery, neurology and neurosurgery, and pulmonology and lung surgery. The publication also deemed the facility “high performing” for multiple oncological surgeries, including colon, lung, prostate, and uterine.
Newsweek ranked Lenox Hill at 28 on its list of “World’s Best Specialized Hospitals” in 2023 for neurosurgery. Healthgrades awarded the facility its America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Prostate Surgeries Award™ for eight consecutive years (2016-2023), as well as its Gastrointestinal Surgery Excellence Award™ for 2023.
About Northwell Lenox Hill Hospital
Northwell Lenox Hill Hospital is a 450-bed, fully accredited, acute care hospital located on Manhattan’s Upper East Side with a national reputation for outstanding patient care and innovative medical and surgical treatments. U.S. News & World Report has ranked Lenox Hill among the nation’s best for cardiology and heart surgery; orthopedics; obstetrics and gynecology; neurology and neurosurgery; geriatrics; pulmonology and lung surgery; ear, nose and throat; diabetes and endocrinology; and cancer.
