Littauer welcomes Karen Bruce, FNP, to Johnstown Primary/Specialty Care

Littauer welcomes Karen Bruce, FNP, to Johnstown Primary/Specialty Care

– Nathan Littauer Hospital is proud to welcome Karen Bruce, RN, MS, FNP-C, to the Perry Street Johnstown Primary/Specialty Care Center. Ms. Bruce comes to Littauer from Cambridge, New York where she was working as a Nurse Practitioner in family health. She is a graduate of The Sage Colleges and is currently working on her PMHNP – Psychiatric and Mental Health Nurse Practitioner.

“Karen comes to us at a time when her services couldn’t be more welcomed and needed,” said Littauer’s Patrice McMahon – Vice President, Primary/Specialty Care Services. “We are thrilled to have her join the Littauer healthcare team.”

“I loved being a nurse,” said Bruce. “I just felt that I would be more effective and better benefit my patients as a Nurse Practitioner. “

Bruce has practiced all over the country and treated all age groups. “I have enjoyed every single one too,” added Bruce.

Bruce is currently seeing patients at the Johnstown Primary Specialty Care, Perry Street location. Appointments cam be made by calling (518) 736-1500. She will also be the Littauer Primary Care presence with The Family Counseling Center in Gloversville.

Karen Bruce, RN, MS, FNP-C, joins the Perry Street Johnstown Primary/Specialty Care Center

“Only the best and brightest choose Littauer”

- The best and brightest now at Littauer – meet; Nicholas J. Fusella, D.O., left, Michael Parslow, D.O., Jerome “Jerry” Rosenstein, M.D., and Shri Kris, Verma, M.D., seated.

– The best and brightest now at Littauer – meet; Nicholas J. Fusella, D.O., left, Michael Parslow, D.O., Jerome “Jerry” Rosenstein, M.D., and Shri Kris, Verma, M.D., seated.

GLOVERSVILLE, NEW YORK (October 24, 2017) – Recently, Nathan Littauer Hospital & Nursing Home held a reception welcoming their newest healthcare providers.

“The best and brightest medical providers seem to choose Littauer,” said Cheryl McGrattan, Littauer VP of Marketing/Communications. “And this excellence in healthcare benefits our community.”

In September, Gastroenterologist Shri Kris, Verma, M.D., joined Nathan Littauer’s at Kingsboro Gastroenterology Primary/Specialty Care Center. He has come to Littauer after a successful solo practice at a Yale-affiliated hospital in New London, Connecticut.

Dr. Verma completed his fellowship in Gastroenterology at the LSU Health Sciences Center-University Hospital Shreveport, LA. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at New York Hospital Medical Center of Queens, New York, and received his Medical Education through The Government Medical College of Rohtak Haryana, India. He is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine/Gastroenterology.

“I am very happy at Littauer,” said Dr. Verma. “I am enjoying the tremendous support of Littauer and my colleagues. “

Dr. Verma is now living locally with his family and has said to be enjoying the 44 Lakes Region. To schedule an appointment with Dr. Verma, please call 518-752-5275.

This month, Littauer welcomed the addition of Jerome “Jerry” Rosenstein, M.D., as a women’s health provider in the Gloversville Primary Care Center on the hospital campus. Dr. Rosenstein has come to Littauer from a successful practice in Binghamton, New York.

Dr. Rosenstein completed his residency in Obstetrics & Gynecology at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center and John Hopkins University, in Baltimore, Maryland. He attended Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and is certified by the American Board of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

“I am thrilled to be practicing and seeing new patients at Littauer,” said Dr. Rosenstein.

Dr. Rosenstein comes to Littauer with extensive experience with women’s health and obstetrics. He takes great pride in providing patients with the latest in women’s health care. Dr. Rosenstein is living locally, joined by his family. To schedule an appointment with Dr. Rosenstein, please call Littauer’s Gloversville Primary Care Center at 518-775-4360.

In August, Littauer added Nicholas J. Fusella, D.O., to the , 99 E. State St., in Gloversville. Dr. Fusella is coming to Littauer from Ellis Family Medicine in Schenectady.

Dr. Fusella completed his residency at Ellis Family Medicine, Schenectady. He received his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine from New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine, his Post-Baccalaureate from Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine and his Bachelor of Science from Siena College.

“Dr. Fusella is an asset to our primary care practice,” said Littauer Vice President, Primary/Specialty Care Services Patrice McMahon.

“I’m happy to practice in a community I am familiar with,” said Dr. Fusella. “I am looking forward to getting to know each of my patients at the Gloversville Family Practice.”

Dr. Fusella was born and raised in the Capital District. When not practicing medicine, he enjoys spending time with his wife and infant son. To set up an appointment or consultation with Dr. Fusella, please call Gloversville Family Practice at 518-775-4201.

In July, Littauer welcomed Michael Parslow, D.O., to the Mayfield Primary/Specialty Care Center, 2497 State Highway 30, in Mayfield, New York. Dr. Parslow was previously employed at St. Elizabeth’s Family Medicine in Utica.

“We pleased Dr. Parslow has joined our Primary Care team at the Mayfield Center,” stated Littauer Vice President of Primary/Specialty Care Services, Patrice McMahon. “He has proven to be the perfect fit for the patients in our community”

Dr. Parslow completed his residency at St. Elizabeth’s Family Medicine, Utica. He received his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine from Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, and is a Cum Laude graduate from Utica College of Syracuse University, Utica, New York.

“I’m happy to be back in the Adirondacks,” said Dr. Parslow. “It’s a pleasure to practice where my medical skills are needed, while living in an environment I am so comfortable in.”

Dr. Parslow was born and raised in the Adirondack Mountains and enjoys the outdoors. When not practicing medicine, he can be found skiing, fishing, hiking and camping with his wife and two young sons. To set up an appointment with Dr. Parslow, call Mayfield Primary/Specialty Care at 518-661-5441, or Speculator Primary/Specialty Care at 518-548-8155.

The Gazette features NLH Gastro campaign front page

Trying to bring a little humor to the process, anyone getting scoped at Nathan Littauer's endoscopy facility gets a complimentary pint glass scaled with markings o measure out their laxative. Afterward, it makes an ideal beer mug.

Trying to bring a little humor to the process, anyone getting scoped at Nathan Littauer’s endoscopy facility gets a complimentary pint glass scaled with markings o measure out their laxative. Afterward, it makes an ideal beer mug.

Bringing humor to a serious issue:

Fulton County aims to boost colonoscopy participation

By John Cropley March 30, 2016

 

FULTON COUNTY — Fulton County is in the odd position of having roughly the same incidence of colon cancer as the rest of the state but a much higher death rate.

A variety of factors may be at play, but health care administrators, regulators and providers agree the most likely cause is the low rate at which county residents are screened for cancer. So the local hospital has been taking steps to make it easier to get a colonoscopy, and taking steps to convince people to go ahead and get it done.

Nathan Littauer Hospital’s endoscopy office in Johnstown, which marks its first anniversary in April, is seeing 20 patients a day, more or less clearing the months-long backlog that existed when the only place to get a colonoscopy in Fulton County was at the hospital in Gloversville.

Colonoscopies can save lives, but they’re nobody’s idea of fun. The procedure requires the patient to skip several meals, drink a gallon of laxative, and then be sedated the next day and examined with a tiny camera mounted on a long slender tube that’s inserted in the rectum.

Some may find it embarrassing.

So Littauer is spiking its outreach campaign with a bit of humor. Anyone getting scoped at Littauer gets a complimentaryscaled with markings to measure out their laxative. (In happier times, it makes a spiffy beer glass, too.) And the procedure will be performed by the Innerds, “nerdy about your innards for nearly 100 years.” (The three doctors pictured on the beer glass are approaching a century in practice, in total.)

A pencil and a humorous little work pad to use while sitting in the bathroom round out the package.

Patrice McMahon, Littauer’s vice president of primary/specialty care services, was previously the administrator for a gastroenterology practice, so she had a lot of experience with hesitant patients.

“I knew the biggest way people would deflect their discomfort over it was through humor,” she said. This colored the hospital’s outreach.

Dr. Kamini Ramani, one of the  at the new Kingsboro GI Center, said she performs 1,600 to 1,800 colonoscopies a year and considers it a crucial tool to save lives.

“It is still probably not being done as much as I would like to see it done,” she said.

It’s a safe procedure for most patients, Ramani said, with physical damage resulting to the colon about once every 3,000 times under ideal conditions. The risk rises under less-than-ideal medical conditions, so in some cases non-invasive tests such as CT scans are substituted for colonoscopy.

Ramani said the CT scan is good for detecting larger and cancer, but not as accurate as a colonoscopy for identifying precancerous problems. Early diagnosis is key to successful treatment, she said, because colorectal cancer takes a long time to develop but once it does it is a tough opponent to fight.

“We do try to convince people that doing a colonoscopy is a good idea,” she said. “Many patients don’t know that they can have this done, and they should be having it done.”

From 2008 to 2012, an average 49.6 men and 38.1 women out of 100,000 were diagnosed with colorectal cancer statewide, according to the state Department of Health, compared with 48.5 men and 48.6 women in Fulton County. (The rates are adjusted in the case of Fulton County, which has fewer than 100,000 residents.)

In the same period, DOH statistics show 17.8 male and 12.8 female deaths from colorectal cancer statewide per 100,000 population, compared with 23.9 male and 16.5 female deaths in Fulton County.

“Our effort is in response to that,” McMahon said.

Littauer for years had a single gastroenterologist and two endoscopy rooms. The backlog for colonoscopies was six to 12 months, McMahon said, and many people in the hospital’s service area lacked money, transportation or motivation to travel elsewhere for quicker access to the procedure.

“When you’re not screened, you don’t have the opportunity to find that precancerous polyp,” McMahon said.

Littauer set out to recruit a second and third physician — Dr. Luz Alvarez and Dr. Hamid Azizur Rehman, both previously in Amsterdam — and outfitted a new site for them to work, a former Littauer ambulatory care center on South Kingsboro Avenue Extension in Johnstown.

In April 2015, the Kingsboro GI Center began operations three days a week. Two nurse practitioners work there with the three doctors, and they perform about 20 procedures a day. The endoscopy rooms at the hospital remain in full-time use, typically for patients unable to leave the hospital.

The co-payment at the Kingsboro GI Center ranges from $50 to $100, depending what insurance the patient has.

Ramani said the colonoscopy is part of a larger picture. Healthy diet and lifestyle on the part of the patient reduce the risk of colon cancer. Rectal exams and feces tests by the family physician during the annual checkup are important for early detection, as the colonoscopy is recommended only once ever 10 years starting at age 50 for the general population.

Nathan Littauer’s efforts are mirrored in the statewide public awareness campaign by the New York Department of Health to get more people to undergo colorectal cancer screening. A DOH spokesperson said the lower-than-average screening rate in Fulton County is a likely factor in the higher-than-average death rate.

In 2013-2014, the most recent years for which data are available, the colorectal cancer screening rate in Fulton County was 59.3 percent, compared with 68.7 percent statewide, according to DOH. Surrounding counties had higher screening rates and lower death rates, DOH noted.

The state goal is 80 percent screening statewide by 2018.

McMahon cited the previously limited colonoscopy options for Fulton County’s disparity with its neighbors.

“If you put up a barrier and people really have to pursue it, it’s going to fall by the wayside,” she said. “Those barriers were here and now they’re not.”