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Technology & Medical Growth
We've Come A Long Way...
By Elissa Christensen
CN Staff Writer & Account Executive
 Take a minute
and think about your body. Close your eyes and imagine
the millions of connections between your cells, the
incomprehensibly complicated activities of your brain,
every beat of your heart, the very act of breathing
in and out, over and over, day after day for the rest
of your life. It’s a rhythmic, even hypnotic system,
and when everything is in good working order, it’s a
perfect system. Unfortunately, one glitch can seriously
kick this symphony of human health out of tune.
Enter Sacramento, one of the greatest hubs of healthcare
in the nation. With nationally ranked medical programs
and facilities densely scattered throughout the region,
we live next door to the cutting edge of medical knowledge.
Now don’t be misled, I am perhaps the last person who
can claim expertise on technology, research, or advances
in the field of medicine. I am, in fact, a prime example
of a person who takes their health for granted right
up until the point when it becomes the slightest bit
impaired. A head cold sends me over my pain threshold…now
if that is the case, what on earth would I do about
something like cancer or heart disease? Cry about it?
Far from it – after all, I’m no baby. And luckily, I
live in a region rich with medical history. As I recently
discovered, you can take a first-hand look at the long
path of medical progress made in our own neighborhood
through at the newly opened Sierra Sacramento Valley
Medical Society Museum. One tour through the museum
floor reveals the leaps and bounds made since Old Town
was shiny and new.
 As
I wandered around the displays of artifacts, illustrations
and old medical journals, I discovered a few interesting
bits and pieces about Sacramento’s health records. For
example, Alexander Butler Nixon, M.D., who served as
the first President of the California State Medical
Society, made the final decision to allow women to join
the society. Dr. Nixon arrived in Sacramento at the
height of the gold rush in 1949, and treated his patients
with a medical kit that resembles a modern toolbox,
as well as various bottles of 100 proof alcohol. After
looking at the items in his bag of professional tricks,
including the jagged teeth of his “bone saw,” and silk
thread the size of packaging string that was used for
sutures, I fully understood the desirability of a bottle
of something strong to be taken down before any medical
procedure.
To be fair, booze did not comprise the whole of Sacramento’s
Nineteenth Century health care needs. The first X-Ray
tube bought in Sacramento in 1897 cost a whopping $195
and can be viewed in the museum across the way from
a display of old pharmaceuticals. J.L. Polhemus, the
man who brought “perfectly pure water” to the Sacramento
Valley also sold imported and patented medicines at
his apothecary shop at the corner of J and 7th. Of course,
he also sold sealing wax and fireproof paint in the
same store. Did I mention that the average lifespan
in 1900 was 48?
 In
comparison, the average lifespan as of 2000 is 76. Perhaps
this is not surprising; however, along with our improved
health, modern humans often take the source of that
good health for granted. I know I am no better. I did
not consider, for example, the great comfort of lying
down for an exam on a (gasp) padded table…until I came
face to face with a hardwood table complete with metal
stirrups. Nor did I consider such procedures as open-heart
surgery miraculous…until I sat down and really thought
about the amazing steps taken since Willem Einthoven
developed the first system to measure electrical impulses
of the human heart. In 1903, this system required two
rooms and five people to operate. Today, Mercy General
Hospital plans to revamp their nationally renowned cardiology
program by building the new Alex G. Spanos Heart
Center, where microscopic precision developed out
of the awkward innovation of “electrocardiography” saves
lives on a daily basis.
This brings me to the next point of business: the latest
medical boom in the Sacramento region. Our home has
been celebrated as the medical hub of California for
years, but in the coming months its prestige may become
even greater – as well as, perhaps, more controversial.
As local facilities plan to expand, the future of Sacramento
medicine is, once again, in the advance.
The new Spanos Heart Center at Mercy General serves
as a prime example of this advance. Plans for the new
facility will be submitted to the State for approval
in April 2005, and from there the staff hopes they will
be running full steam towards their revamped heart center.
Already ranked as one of the premier cardio-care facilities
in the nation, Mercy General wants to expand their facility
in order to maintain their program’s growth.
While such news sounds exciting and promising for Sacramento
Valley residents (after all, who wouldn’t want to know
that the best and brightest in medical heart technology
operate right next door?), the reality of Mercy General’s
plans comes at a certain cost. For example, due to Mercy
General’s location in the heart of East Sacramento,
local residents are torn about hospital plans. The general
outcry against expansion plans has little to do with
the potential advantages in the medical field, and more
with convenience and livability for those who live and
work near the hospital. Traffic issues, accessibility
to the adjacent Sacred Heart Elementary School, imposition
on existing homes, and the preservation of heritage
trees are all sticky issues being passed back and forth
like chewing gum between fingers.
No one seems to know how these issues can be resolved
with certainty, yet expansion of the hospital is nevertheless
a major priority. In addition to the need to expand
the heart center, Mercy General must respond to the
Seismic Retrofit Law passed in California in 1996. This
law states that all California inpatient hospitals must
meet the law’s structural requirements to protect patients
in the event of an earthquake. Considering that the
South Wing of the hospital was built in 1926, the hospital
must at least remodel.
While the concerns of local residents are certainly
valid, and quite compelling, the general plans for the
new facility show so much promise and demonstrate a
true dedication to improved health care service. The
hospital plans include a brand-new, five story building,
revamped parking lots, improved landscaping – including
the addition of a “healing garden” for patients, staff,
and visitors, as well as a greater number of cardiac
surgery suites and catheterization laboratories.
Down the street, also in the heart of midtown Sacramento,
Sutter Medical Center is planning a large-scale makeover
as well. Named after the man who discovered gold in
the days when amputations were accompanied by whiskey,
Sutter Medical Center has grand plans to remodel their
current site. The project plans include a new Women
and Children’s Hospital, a new Emergency Department,
and general expansion throughout the campus.
Sutter Medical Center, already ranked among the top
100 hospitals in the United States, hopes to promote
further advances in their cardiovascular, neurological,
neonatal, cancer treatment, and other programs through
their renovation and expansion. Added features on the
hospital campus will even include helicopter access
on the roof, and a “village” area on the central campus
to facilitate patient and staff traffic.
Technology, expansion and medical advance seem to be
the call of the day in Sacramento. Though the impact
may be felt upon the immediate community, one can’t
help but realize how miraculously lucky we are to live
in the midst of this kind of technical advance. When
it comes down to it, health care is one of the most
essential steps we’ve taken during the last century,
and it’s further growth promises greater peace of mind
and wellness of body. Is that something really worth
curtailing? Perhaps the answer to that question is not
cut in such black and white terms. However, after taking
a look at the practices used upon Sacramento patients
only a few decades ago, I think most people would go
to their next doctor’s appointment with a spring in
their step and a whole new outlook on their friendly
neighborhood M.D.
For more information, contact Elissa Christiansen at
EChristensen@ConnectedNow.com
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