Contacts:
Nicole Russell
Public Relations Coordinator
(201) 833-3284
n-russell@mail.holyname.org
Katherine Emmanouilidi
Manager, Marketing and Public Relations
(201) 833-7092
emmanouilidi@holyname.org
Teaneck, NJ – February 11, 2009 – Holy Name Hospital recently became the first hospital in Bergen County to open a comprehensive Liver Center, which offers state-of-the-art transplant services, surgery and treatment for liver cancer and liver diseases.
Chul S. Hyun, M.D., Ph.D., who was the Liver Center’s principal architect and now its director says, “Our team of medical, surgical and radiological specialists work cooperatively to ensure the highest quality of care for liver patients.”
(Photo above, left to right) James Guarrera, M.D., Kyung-Hee Choi, director of the Korean Medical Program at Holy Name Hospital, and Chul S. Hyun, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Hyun says a unique aspect of the Liver Center is its hepatitis B clinic. In the Asian-American population, 10 out of 100 people are carriers of the hepatitis B virus. Although not all carriers of the virus will have symptoms, 25-30 percent may suffer some form of chronic illness due to the virus, including cancer or cirrhosis of the liver. “With liver cancer being the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the world,” says Dr. Hyun, who is a board-certified gastroenterologist with fellowship training in liver disease, “this center and what it offers to the community is essential.”
The Liver Center and specifically, the hepatitis B project, has multiple goals and objectives, including screening for those at risk for carrying the hepatitis B virus, medical intervention with antiviral treatments for those at risk, community outreach to educate the population about the disease and risk factors, educating general practitioners about the importance of screening for hepatitis B, and creating a standard of care for hepatitis B-positive pregnant women, who in turn, can pass on the virus to their babies.
In addition to Dr. Hyun, who currently serves as a faculty member in the division of gastroenterology and hepatology at Weill Cornell Medical College, the Liver Center’s team of physicians includes Drs. Jean Emond and James Guarrera who are both attending hepatobiliary surgeons at Holy Name and clinical leaders in liver transplantation at Columbia University Medical Center. Additional expertise is provided by John Rundback, M.D., director of Holy Name’s Interventional Institute.
“By having such excellent physicians as a part of the Liver Center,” says Dr. Guarrera, “We are able to treat our patients in a state-of-the-art, multidisciplinary manner – which potentially can save lives.”
Holy Name Hospital
Holy Name Hospital is a fully accredited, not-for-profit, acute care community hospital located in Teaneck, New Jersey. Founded and sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace in 1925, the hospital is now a comprehensive 361-bed medical center offering leading-edge medical practice and technology, administered in an environment rooted in a tradition of compassion and respect for every patient. Affiliation with the NewYork-Presbyterian Healthcare System brings further advantages to our Bergen County community, including access to clinical trials, highly specialized physicians, and expanded opportunities for professional medical education.
