I am so grateful to have the opportunity this year to run for BIDMC and their Ob/Gyn Department in the 2018 Boston Marathon. I am a patient with the Ob/Gyn department at BIDMC, and, while training for another marathon this fall, I couldn't help but notice the signs for TEAM BIDMC up at the hospital every time I have been there for an appointment. Like many young women with endometriosis, I have struggled at times to find solutions to the pain and the specialists who could best help me live a healthy and pain-free life. After two surgeries in less than a year, and experiencing a devastating surgery elsewhere that left me reeling, I switched over my care to BIDMC, where I have since worked with a wonderful team of clinicians who have helped to get me healthy and back together emotionally. With their support and encouragement, I was able to run my first marathon this fall, even running a Boston Qualifying time! Now, I'm running to give back to the hospital and clinicians who have helped me, and to help other women get the same compassionate care I have had.
As I have learned more about their department, I have been so impressed by the efforts the Ob/Gyn department has made to improve quality and safety for women, including reducing unnecessary surgeries and surgical errors. I have also been so impressed by the comprehensive care available at BIDMC, with many subspecialties, physical therapy, and pain management available for women. They are also, hands down, the nicest hospital in Boston.
Disorders like endometriosis affect millions of women in the U.S. alone, our country currently has the highest maternal mortality rate (and only rising maternal mortality rate) of any developed country in the world, reproductive cancers claim way too many lives, and critical funding for women's healthcare has seen significant cuts this past year. It is my hope that I can help other women to be able to get the same high quality, compassionate care that I have in this department at BIDMC. I could honestly think of no better cause to raise money for in 2018 than women's health and a department that prioritizes patients.
Having grown up in nearby Concord, I have dreamed of running Boston since my very first track season freshman year of high school. I have come a long way since my sprinting days, and am looking forward to running 26.2 in Boston this April. Thank you for your support in helping me to reach my goal of raising $7,500 for the BIDMC Ob/Gyndepartment!
Team BIDMC is running to support a variety of programs, including the Cancer Center, the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the Klarman Family Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), the Annual Fund, kidney disease research, and Bowdoin Street Health Center's Healthy Champions Program. Several of our runners are also supporting our Needham, Milton, and Plymouth affiliates. Thank you for your support!
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Clinicians within our Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology deliver approximately 5,000 babies every year. The department has become a national, award-winning leader in the movement to improve health care quality and safety, pioneering a groundbreaking "team training" approach to reducing medical errors—a methodology based on safety principles from the military, commercial aviation, and other industries.
Renovation and Expansion
Most recently, we successfully completed an effort to redesign the triage area for labor and delivery to include more beds in order to accommodate additional patients and create a more private, peaceful, and restful environment for patients. BIDMC's brand new triage suite in the Stoneman 10 area includes eight private bays with doors; each bay has a door to allow for maximal privacy and each bed has the necessary equipment to deliver complex critical care and perform procedures at its side.
REASEARCH
BIDMC is a major research affiliate of Harvard Medical School and ranks fourth among independent hospitals nationwide in National Institutes of Health funding. Through close collaboration with other departments at the medical center and at Harvard Medical School, the department has a varied and prolific research program. Some of our most promising research includes pollution's effect on pregnancy and reproduction; innovating health systems to deliver optimal care; abnormal placentation research; and understanding preeclampsia.
