Page 6 - MidWeek Kauai - April 5, 2023

6 KAUA‘I MIDWEEK APRIL 5, 2023
Doctors Remain Dedicated To Saving Lives In Hawai‘i
FROM PAGE 5
involved a large incision so surgeons could get their hands into the body,” Grief says. “Laparoscopic surgery was new, minimally invasive and called for a small incision. I learned laparoscopic surger- ies for gallbladders, hernias, colons and appendectomies after finishing training. I also developed the skills for bar- iatric surgery later, in 2009.”
in helping babies survive against all odds.
“After their treatment, when you are able to see them celebrate their 10th birthday, it’s very fulfilling. It is an honor and why I went into pediatric surgery.”
improves 75% of the time, and your sleep apnea goes away 96% of the time. That’s what hooked me — to know we could medically improve health with this surgery. It could reverse those compli- cations. Those are incredible outcomes.”
physicians and helping them advance the technology and treatments in the field.
“I found myself being drawn toward trying to help those with the greatest needs during pregnancy, and there- fore decided to specialize in maternal fetal medicine and take care of those with high- risk pregnancies,” Yamasato says.
Grief lost count of how many surgeries he’s done in his career after about 35,000 when adding up in-office procedures and major opera- tions. For bariatric surgeries, he estimates that it’s close to
For example, he helps fel- low physicians further their research through HPH’s Biomedical Research and Innovation Center, which he co-chairs with Kapi‘olani pediatric cardiologist Dr. An- dras Bratincsak. He also has the opportunity to work with University of Hawai‘i John A. Burns medical students to explore their own scientific studies as JABSOM’s medi- cal student research director and as the associate chair for research in the department of surgery.
“We take care of a lot of women with medical condi- tions such as high blood pres- sure and diabetes that require extra monitoring during preg- nancy. Many of these condi- tions create pregnancy risks to both the mom and the baby,” she elaborates.
Dr. Kelly Yamasato
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Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children.
care that we are working on at Kapi‘olani,” Yamasato adds. “To be honest, after all these years I still marvel at those first ultrasounds when a baby is a few millimeters long and you can already see that flick- er of a heartbeat. To think we all started out like that. I’ ve delivered some babies who’ve weighed just about a pound at birth, while the heaviest baby I’ ve delivered weighed 14 pounds. On either end of the spectrum, our neonatology colleagues at Kapi‘olani pro- vide amazing care after birth.”
r. Russell Woo works as an innovative pe- diatric surgeon at
Dr. Russell Woo
“We also care for expectant moms who do not have any medical conditions, but their baby may have a complication such as a heart defect, poor growth or other conditions that require extra prenatal monitoring and planning for neonatal care. We also take care of women with multiple gestations, such as those who carry twins and triplets. Sever- al years ago a local mom gave birth to quintuplets — they were cared for by the Mater- nal Fetal Medicine team at Kapi‘olani.”
a thousand.
“We’re proud that the bar-
Recently, Kapi‘olani be- came the first and only medi- cal center in Hawai‘i to be na- tionally recognized as a Level I Children’s Surgery Center by the American College of Surgeons.
emonstrating anoth- er of the vast array of fields that medicine
“We treat newborns who are born with conditions that need immediate attention — they won’t survive with- out medical care. After their treatment, when you are able see them celebrate their 10th birthday, it’s very fulfilling. It is an honor and why I went into pediatric surgery,” he says.
neonatal surgery,” Woo says. “Kapi‘olani would not have achieved this without the commitment by HPH and all its providers,” he continues. “We want to provide world- class care to Hawai‘i’s women
“Educating students and innovating new treatments go hand-in-hand — both are essential to the goal of provid- ing better care for our patients now and into the future,” says Woo.
“We’re one of about 50 hospitals across the nation with ACS’s highest dis- tinction. It awards medical centers that have the experi- ence, expertise and resourc- es to provide comprehensive treatment for a wide range of complex conditions from congenital heart surgery to pediatric neurosurgery and
One example of an area that Yamasato has a particular in- terest in is periviable birth — this is when a woman is at risk for delivering her child very early, near the limits of when a baby can survive after birth.
and children.
“It wasn’t simple. Kapi‘ola-
Dr. Mark Grief
iatric surgery program is an accredited Center of Excel- lence at Pali Momi Medical Center. What we do now with bariatric surgery is the same whether you’re in California, New York or London. It’s very specific. If you are about 100 pounds overweight, your risk of dying in the next five years is drastically higher than if you undergo bariatric surgery,” Grief elaborates. “According to the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, with the weight-loss surgery, your diabetes goes away 92% of the time, your hypertension
Woo strongly believes in research and helped to estab- lish surgical verification rec- ognition at Kapi‘olani.
ni had to ensure not only that it has facilities and equipment specifically designed for chil- dren; the medical team had to commit to being on-call for a range of needs 24/7 and check specialized credentialing and training for staff,” he adds. “We had to make sure that across the journey of a surgi- cal patient — before they en- ter the hospital, in the hospital and back at home — that their parents had all the education, resources and collaborations to deliver the best care. One of the key aspects is detailed and consistent processes of review by a multi-disciplinary team of doctors, nurses and specialists.”
Woo is also excited about training the next generation of
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covers is Dr. Kelly Yamasato of Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children. Ya- masato grew up in Waimea on Hawai‘i Island and did all her medical training at JABSOM, including medical school, residency and fellow- ship. As a faculty member of JABSOM, a large part of her role is education and research as well.
Summing up their heartfelt stories, these five doctors are just a few of the hundreds of medical professionals who are part of the dedicated HPH ‘ohana of caregivers who all work in collabora- tion with each other. Their individual histories and specialties vary, but what ties all of their contributions together are shared values. They include close attention to team-based multidisci- plinary care, forging rela- tionships with patients and their families, an emphasis on the importance of education and research, and much more.
Yamasato has a love for obstetrics-gynecology and has been instrumental
“The counseling and deci- sions made by the pregnant mother in this situation are ex- tremely complex and require a close-knit team approach. This is an example of an area of maternal fetal medicine