Penn is one of the top university hospitals in the United States. It is affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League college in the same city where Princess Grace Kelly is from. Her namesake hospital in Monaco, known for its high quality of care, celebrated this relationship on Friday evening at a gala at the Fairmont Hotel. Doctors from both hospitals shared some recent innovations, as guests enjoyed food and drinks, all with the goal of raising money to continue this prestigious collaborative effort.[ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type=”show” ihc_mb_who=”2″ ihc_mb_template=”1″ ]
The event was inspiring, as doctors from both hospitals shared their experiences in the collaboration. Dr. Joseph E. Bavaria, a heart surgeon at Penn hospital, explained how the relationship between Penn and Princess Grace hospitals began in 2009, designed to teach fellows internationally, through the cardiology department. The relationship has since grown into other departments. One key benefit of the collaboration is access to clinical trials. The relationship between the hospitals has allowed them to give patients access to trials in the USA or EU that otherwise may have been restricted.
Dr. Gabriel Latcu, who describes himself as an “electrician of the heart”, is a cardiologist at Princess Grace Hospital. He described how his department has frequent teleconferences with Penn colleagues where they discuss difficult cases. In addition, there are exchanges, where doctors from Monaco and Philadelphia switch places. He shared with the audience a new innovation in heart surgery, where patients do not need to be cut open.
At Penn, Dr. Angela M. DeMichele specialises in breast cancer and leads the breast cancer research program, where new technologies for imaging and screening building on mammography are developed, specifically the process of tomosynthesis, a new kind of mammography. The collaboration allows both hospitals the opportunity to facilitate the best cancer care to patients. At the gala, Dr. DeMichele and her counterpart at Grace, oncology radiologist Dr. Cecile Ortholan-Negre, discussed their collaboration and how they have worked together to investigate and improve treatment for patients. Dr. Ortholan-Negre’s expertise with radiography was shown to reduce cancer in cases that were previous deemed impossible to cure. At Grace, the cancer treatment department is quite small but very well regarded. The relationship with Penn allows for both hospitals to have the most up-to-date care for patients.
In addition to doctors from both hospitals reporting new innovations in their specialties, Monaco residents Rina Spence and Tina Green were both honoured for their contributions to the partnership. With Princess Grace’s origins in Philadelphia, her spirit lives on through the dedicated doctors and supporters of Grace-Penn.
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