St. Vincent will open lung center in June

5/15/2008

St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center is opening a lung center next month to centralize specialist services for pulmonary patients as well as be a consultation and referral resource for doctors throughout northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan.

Under the medical leadership of Dr. Vijay Mahajan, the lung center will focus on early detection, education, testing, and treatment of pulmonary diseases.

The lung center will have about six doctors who specialize in pulmonology, cardiology, oncology, and other areas.

We have a lot of people with lung diseases who are either undiagnosed or underdiagnosed, said Sarah Bednarski, a spokesman for Mercy Health Partners, the parent company of St. Vincent.

By the time they get to the specialist, the treatment options are limited.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, for example, is the fifth-leading cause of death in the United States, and there are many patients with the disease in northwest Ohio, Ms. Bednarski said.