Beaumont Hospital opens women's urology center

It’s something that women don’t talk about even to their best friends or their doctors. That’s why Beaumont Hospitals has created a new Women’s Urology Center offering leading-edge treatments, innovative research and the most advanced minimally invasive procedures for women’s urological conditions such as incontinence, pelvic pain and sexual dysfunction.

It is the first center in the Midwest dedicated and designed exclusively for women’s urological care and sexual health.

“We have created a special, private and comfortable place for women to go where people who care will listen, evaluate their problem and provide treatment that will make a difference in their lives,” says Kenneth Peters, M.D., chairman of Urology at Beaumont, Royal Oak.

The 4,200-square-foot, $1.6 million eco-friendly center, opened at Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak this week.  It was made possible through a generous $5 million gift from Susan E. Cooper of Birmingham, a long-time member of the Boards of Directors of Beaumont Hospitals and the Beaumont Foundation. A portion of her gift funded construction, equipment and furnishings for the center; the remainder will fund ongoing research to advance women’s urology.

“The intent of my gift is to create another important women’s health destination at Beaumont, by expanding the range of Beaumont’s special health services for women that include a Women’s Heart Center and a Comprehensive Breast Care Center,” says Cooper. “I am gratified to support the work of Dr. Peters and his associates in providing cutting-edge urology treatment and research options for women.”
Kenneth J. Matzick, president and chief executive officer, Beaumont Hospitals, says, “We are very grateful to Susan Cooper for her wisdom in our boardroom and for her long-term philanthropic support of Beaumont through gifts such as the one creating the Women’s Urology Center.”

The new center is staffed by board-certified, fellowship-trained physicians and a nurse practitioner who specialize in women’s urologic conditions. The center offers:

• Beaumont’s nationally renowned pelvic floor physical therapy program
• Comprehensive integrative medicine services, including medical massage, guided imagery and Reiki therapy
• Psychological support to help women understand and manage emotional stress resulting from urologic conditions
• Access to clinical research trials evaluating new treatment options

Conditions evaluated and treated at the center include urinary frequency or urgency, urinary incontinence, interstitial cystitis or painful bladder syndrome, unexplained pelvic pain, vulvar pain, sexual problems or pain associated with sex and post-cancer treatment for vaginal discomfort or dryness.

To schedule a consultation at the center, call 248-898-0898.

The new center is conveniently located at Beaumont, Royal Oak with quick and direct access to parking. The center’s soothing décor includes special, padded seating for patient comfort, and eco-friendly elements such as natural cork flooring; carpet tiles with anti-microbial fibers and recyclable backing; energy-efficient lighting; and low volatile-organic-compound paints and adhesives that reduce toxic emissions. The center will feature original botanical photographs by Birmingham artist Laurie Tennent.

Although urologic conditions are very prevalent in women, many of them go undiagnosed and untreated because women are embarrassed to discuss their symptoms or because their doctor lacks the expertise to help them. According to the National Association for Continence, two-thirds of women ages 30 to 70 have never discussed bladder health with their doctor.

One-third of women experience incontinence, the leaking of urine with loss of bladder control. With stress incontinence, urine leakage occurs when stress is exerted on the bladder by coughing, sneezing or laughing. With urge incontinence, there is a sudden, intense urge to urinate.

Pelvic pain affects one out of every six women.  According to the National Pain Foundation, 61 percent of women with pelvic pain remain undiagnosed. Symptoms of pelvic pain include severe and steady or intermittent pain in the pelvic area, pain during intercourse or vulvar pain or pressure.

The Women’s Urology Center will incorporate the services of the Women’s Initiative for Pelvic Pain and Sexual Health, a program funded through the generosity of local philanthropists Florine and J. Peter Ministrelli of West Bloomfield.

Beaumont’s Urology department is nationally renowned for research and innovation, ranking 34th on the 2009 U. S. News & World Report “America’s Best Hospitals” list.

Beaumont urologists were first in the United States to use a person’s own stem cells for the treatment of stress incontinence through a research study that’s now enrolled 40 patients. The cells are used to strengthen weakened muscles to control urination.

In addition to services available in the Women’s Urology Center, Beaumont urologists offer endoscopic, robotic and minimally invasive laparascopic surgical options as well as traditional surgeries; treatment for kidney stones; urologic cancer; prostate conditions; male infertility; voiding dysfunction; and erectile dysfunction.