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" I often describe South Nassau as a 'communiversity' hospital. It has the feeling of a community hospital with the benefits of a tertiary care academic center. We provide care in a five-star facility with some of the best-trained physicians and surgeons in the New York area." — ALAN GARELY, MD, CHAIR OF OB-GYN AND DIRECTOR OF UROGYNECOLOGY AND PELVIC RECONSTRUCTIVE SURGERY AT SOUTH NASSAU COMMUNITIES HOSPITAL Accreditation Council for Graduate Medica l Education have rigorous training regimens with clinical, surgical and research components. The fellowship-trained physicians at South Nassau are dedicated to staying abreast of new advance- ment s i n t hei r f ield wh i le pa r t icipat i n g i n research themselves. The urog y necolog y tea m at South Na ssau attends annual meetings and training sessions to stay up-to-date on continuing research oppor- tunities and findings in female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery. "We are trained in special procedures that have a lot of potential complications associated with them, such as transvagina l mesh placement," Dr. Liberma n says. " For the best outcomes, patients want to be treated by someone who has years of training." Drs. Garely, Rahimi and Liberman are friends as well as colleagues. They keep open lines of communication and work together seamlessly, co-managing their patients both surgically and non-surgically. " We specia lize in a very specific number of procedures a nd we communicate effectively because we know each other so well," Dr. Liberman says. "Everyone has each other's cellphone num- bers. We reach out, we're very responsive and we get patients into the hospital quickly when some- thing needs to be treated." MULTIDISCIPLINARY COLLABORATION The urogynecology team at South Nassau works closely with the rest of the OB-GYN department as well as other subspecialists within the hospital, including anesthesiologists, pediatricians, radi- ologists and urologists. Colorecta l surgeons, plastic surgeons and general surgeons also col- laborate with the urogynecology team in order to effectively treat patients. "South Nassau's multidisciplinary approach allows different treatment modalities to be integrated into a patient's care," Dr. Garely explains. "Having many different disciplines involved greatly helps the patient." The collaboration between departments is especially beneficial to patients when it comes to surgery. A patient who needs urogynecological surgery may also require surgery for other problems, such as a hernia or colorectal issue. Rather than waiting to treat colorectal or plastic surgery issues down the line, the team at South Nassau holds combined surgery sessions to address multiple issues at once. This practice lowers the amount of time patients spend visiting specialists or undergoing surgeries. Additionally, when OB-GYN generalists refer their patients to the urogynecol- og y team at South Nassau, they stay involved throughout the process, even when it's time for surgery. "When we perform surgeries on patients, we invite their generalists to come and join us," Dr. Liberman says. "It allows patients to see familiar faces at the time of surgery and maintain a continuity of care. It also makes patients a lot more comfortable." Dr. Garely discusses a treatment with a patient. Gynecology Medical Assistant Allyson Grant-Pack consults Dr. Garely about a patient's test results. 0 9 M D N E W S . C O M /// M D N E W S L O N G I S L A N D ■ 2 017