Sleep center opens in Kenmore Mercy

Features

October 10, 2010

By David Hill Niagara Gazette The Niagara Gazette Sun Oct 10, 2010, 11:23 PM EDT

NORTH TONAWANDA — Kenmore Mercy Hospital hopes to help people spend less time counting sheep and more time enjoying better sleep with its newest facility.

Hospital officials unveiled the SleepCare Center with a grand opening recently. It is the third such facility in the Catholic Health System’s hospital network, complementing centers at Mercy Hospital in Buffalo and Sisters of Charity Hospital’s St. Joseph Campus in Cheektowaga.

“Expanding services to the Northtowns is an essential part of the Catholic Health System,” said Alexander Gelfer, the sleep center’s medical director.

The sleep center is designed to diagnose and treat a variety of sleep disorders.

Officials began contemplating a sleep care center at Kenmore Mercy several years ago, according to hospital CEO James Millard, who was at the St. Joseph Campus, when the sleep center there was established in 1993. “We had taken a look at the need for one in the Northtowns two years ago,” Millard said before the ceremony. “More and more people understand the issues that can cause sleep disorders. Diagnosing them is the first step to treating them.”

Kenmore Mercy’s new facility saw its first patient a few weeks ago. The SleepCare Center is located on the hospital’s fourth floor. It features four suites that each resemble a hotel room and come equipped with a queen size bed, wall mounted flat screen television and handicap accessible bathroom. The goal is to make patients feel as comfortable as possible, as if they were in their own home environment, officials said.

A separate monitoring room is equipped with state-of-the-art sleep study technology.

While it varies, patients typically spend two nights in the SleepCare Center, said Nancy Lechanski, the lead sleep technician at Sisters’ St. Joseph Campus. Once they arrive, patients are shown to a room and hooked up to a CPAP, a device that helps the patient breathe easier by adjusting air pressure.

While the patient sleeps, technicians monitor a number of bodily functions, such as the patient’s brain waves, eye movements, heart rate and breathing patterns.

Staff then analyze the results, which help technicians track sleep patterns and identify abnormal conditions, such as sleep apnea, the most common problem found during sleep studies. The process involves a range of medical personnel, including sleep study technologists, neurologists and even psychiatrists.

The results of the sleep testing are then forwarded to the patient’s physician, who can recommend treatment options, which range from devices that prevent snoring and improve breathing, to surgery.

Sleep disorders affect 70 million Americans, nearly two-thirds of whom have a chronic disorder, according to the National Institutes of Health National Center on Sleep Disorders Research. “Sleep is a tremendous issue in our society because everybody tries to cut sleep,” said Alexander Gelfer, a board certified sleep specialist who serves as Kenmore Mercy’s sleep center medical director.

“We know that by helping people get a good night’s sleep, we can improve their health. If someone is having trouble sleeping and it doesn’t get better over time, it’s time to get help,” Gelfer added.

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