Located just east of the Cascade Mountains in Bend, Oregon,St. Charles Medical Center is a modern, full service regional health care facility serving over 170,000 residents of Central and Eastern Oregon. This 181-bed hospital offers many advanced programs including open heart-, neuro-, and orthopedic surgery. Its acute care facilities are complemented by a modern day-surgery center, a regional laboratory, a cancer treatment center, an inpatient rehabilitation facility, and an aeromedical transportation system (helicopter and airplane). The medical center is the only Level II trauma facility in the region.
The St. Charles medical staff includes more than 200 physicians in nearly 40 specialties. They are drawn to Bend by the high caliber of the medical community and the unique quality of life in the region. The medical center is also the home of the internationally recognized Endometriosis Treatment Program headed by Dr. David Redwine. While Dr. Redwine has been successfully treating endometriosis since 1978, the St. Charles Endometriosis Treatment Program was not established until 1986. At that time, with the help of St. Charles Medical Center's Nancy Petersen, RN, Dr. Redwine began to offer his treatment to women outside the Central Oregon area. By 1989, Dr. Redwine was treating women from nearly 30 states and several Canadian provinces. Because his case load had increased so dramatically, he gave up his obstetrics practice and now focuses entirely on endometriosis.
This singular emphasis on endometriosis ensures that Dr. Redwine can keep himself constantly apprised of all the latest developments. As a pioneer in the field, Dr. Redwine is often asked to participate in medical symposia and clinical courses concerning endometriosis. These activities keep him in touch with other experts on a frequent basis. A registered nurse case manager oversees patient support and education.
Dr. Redwine's work
Dr. Redwine has pioneered effective diagnosis and treatment methods for women suffering from endometriosis. Through a simple broadening of current diagnostic and surgical techniques, Dr. Redwine has been very successful in relieving the pain and complications of the disease.
Dr. Redwine's approach is by no means radical, yet his results are offering hope where often there was none. The foundation of his approach is simple: better identification of the manifestations of the disease and meticulous removal of all diseased tissue.
"The foundation of Dr. Redwine's approach is simple: better identification of the manifestations of the disease and meticulous removal of all diseased tissue."
The goal of Dr. Redwine's work is to safely and completely remove endometriosis from the pelvis of each patient. For the vast majority of his patients, this goal is being met. Our long term research has shown that there is less than a 19% chance of recurrence, even at five years or more after surgery.
Since 1978, hundreds of women from the U.S., Canada and even Europe have come to Dr. Redwine for treatment and, in a majority of cases, the surgery has been successful in reducing or eliminating pain in these patients.
Articles detailing Dr. Redwine's work have appeared in newspapers, magazines and medical journals in the U.S., Canada and Europe. Clinical video tapes illustrating his techniques have been exhibited at a number of major medical conventions. Dr. Redwine has also been invited to present his work in person at many of these national and international gatherings.
Most Endometriosis Treatment Program patients undergo laparoscopic surgery on an outpatient basis. These women frequently spend only five days in Bend. Even patients who undergo more extensive abdominal surgery are usually able to return home in just over a week.
In general, surgical approaches focus on the excision of endometriosis, not the removal of organs (i.e. uterus, ovaries, fallopean tubes).
Recognition In Our Field
The Endometriosis Treatment Program and St. Charles Medical Center have been widely recognized for excellence. Over the last several years, the Endometriosis Treatment Program has been featured in Hospital Benchmarks - The Newsletter of Best Practices, listed among the top women's health programs in the nation by Self Magazine, and recognized with an award for excellence from the National Association of Women's Health Professionals.
In recent years, St. Charles Medical Center received the Norman Cousins Award from the Michigan-based Fetzer Institute (in which they called St. Charles "the best hospital in the country with regard to the sacredness of care"), was named as one of 15 outstanding "Hospitals with Heart" by Modern Maturity magazine, was recognized by Modern Healthcare magazine for its use of music in the healing environment, and maintained patient satisfaction ratings consistently in the top 5-10% of a comparison group of more than 600 hospitals nationwide. St. Charles has also received honors for having one of the top 100 orthopedic programs in the nation, a cardiac services program among the best in the country, and outstanding results in physical rehabilitation. St. Charles received the Oregon Quality Award in 1997 and is among just a handful of US hospitals that have achieved the goal of registering their quality systems with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
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