Santa Monica Expands Services to Meet Women’s Health Needs When UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica first opened more than 85 years ago as a small, private facility known as Santa Monica Hospital, quality maternity care was among its key offerings. Today, UCLA has expanded its women’s services in Santa Monica with a new office on 16th Street that offers comprehensive care, ranging from routine primary and preventive care to medical and surgical management of all gynecological issues. “We are involved in all facets of obstetrical and gynecological care in Santa Monica, and we’re continuing to align and expand our practice to build even stronger ties to a very diverse community,” says William A. Growdon, MD, a physician in the new OB/GYN office in Santa Monica. The full range of preventive and primary-care services includes well-woman visits, cancer and STD screening, and management of chronic disease and high-risk, high-acuity patients. The latest family planning options also are available. With the growth of women’s services in Santa Monica comes an increased number of outpatient treatment options. “An increasing The full range of preventive and primary-care services includes well-woman visits, cancer and STD screening and management of chronic disease and high-risk, high-acuity patients. number of women are requesting treatment options that can be performed in the office, with virtually no downtime,” explains UCLA OB/GYN Aldo Palmieri, MD. Such procedures include hysteroscopic sterilization, a permanent birth-control procedure that uses coil implants to block the fallopian tubes and prevent future fertilization. Other commonly performed office procedures now available include diagnostic hysteroscopy to identify abnormal bleeding, fibroids and additional lower genital track problems, and a specialized loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP) to treat precancerous cervical disease. Santa Monica’s physicians also specialize in minimally invasive surgeries; more than 90 percent of hysterectomies at the hospital are minimally invasive, compared with 20-to- 30 percent nationally. “Many other types of surgeries are now performed as outpatient surgeries,” says UCLA OB/GYN Jessica Hsu, MD. “Benign ovarian tumors, uterine fibroids and ectopic pregnancies have been treated in the past with a large incision and several days in the hospital. Now, the surgeries are routinely performed by laparoscopic approaches with a minimally invasive, tiny incision. The patient goes home the same day and recovers faster.” For more information about UCLA’s OB/GYN office in Santa Monica, go to: obgyn.ucla.edu/santamonica Vital Signs Spring 2013 Vol. 58 3