University Hospitals Geauga Medical Center enhances clinical programs and patient outcomes
By Ken McEntee
Working in an emergency room, one has to be prepared for anything. The need to respond to a variety of unexpected challenges has helped Marlea Miano, MD, RN, EMT-P, develop a big-picture perspective of the operations at University Hospitals Geauga Medical Center.
About two years after coming home to Northeast Ohio to join the UH system, Dr. Miano was recently appointed Chief Medical Officer at UH Geauga Medical Center.
“I think emergency physicians are well-positioned for healthcare leadership roles,” she says. “In emergency medicine, we touch many areas of the hospital and interact with many specialties, either as consultants or with physicians who are admitting patients. We take care of surgical patients, we take care of medical patients, and we interact with outpatient providers.”
In her new role, Dr. Miano is working with the hospital’s leadership team to enhance clinical programs and services, patient outcomes, safety, and quality at a facility that already has a solid reputation for providing stellar patient care.
For the second consecutive year, UH Geauga Medical Center was recently recognized as one of the 100 Top Hospitals in the U.S. by Fortune magazine and IBM Watson Health. IBM Watson Health identified the top hospitals from a rigorous evaluation of 2,675 short-term, acute care, non-federal hospitals across the country.
“It is nice to receive that recognition because our patients overwhelmingly have positive experiences here,” Dr. Miano emphasizes. “They have positive comments and report that they’re likely to recommend UH Geauga to friends and family as a place to receive medical care.”
It is especially important that UH Geauga Medical Center is able to provide that exceptional care close to home, she says.
“One of our biggest benefits is being right here in the community while being a part of the University Hospitals system,” she says. “We’re working to share evidence-based best practices across our medical centers. One of the jobs that I’ve been tasked with is to bring ‘systemness’ as a two-way street between UH Cleveland Medical Center and our community, and it’s very exciting to be a part of that.”
The facility has a number of outstanding services, including cancer care at UH Seidman Cancer Center, cardiovascular care at UH Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute, as well as orthopedic and spine specialty care. Among the most recent new services to be introduced to UH Geauga Medical Center is robotic-assisted minimally invasive surgery. The procedures usually result in less pain, less bleeding, a lower risk of infection, a shorter hospital stay and a quicker recovery time compared to traditional open surgery.
“It’s exciting to not only be able to take great care of patients at UH Geauga, but also help patients to stay healthy at home or recover at home sooner due to the new technology that we have available here in Geauga County,” she says.
A Euclid native and a graduate of the Auburn Career Center Paramedic Program and Case Western Reserve University Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing,
Dr. Miano worked as a nurse and trained as an Emergency Medical Technician before earning her medical degree. Before joining UH, she helped to convert a free-standing Emergency Department to an inpatient hospital with an operating suite, and developed protocols and resolved operational issues at the new hospital. She also has experience in managing openings of various new patient services and labs, including a cardiac cath lab and endoscopy suite.
Along with serving as Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Miano will continue to care for patients as an emergency medicine physician.
“I was really excited when I had the opportunity to come back to Northeast Ohio,” she says. “Now that I’m here, I’m thrilled to collaborate across the UH system to improve the health and well-being of residents in our community here in Geauga and the region.”
University Hospitals Geauga Medical Center is located at 13207 Ravenna Road, in Chardon. You can learn more at UHHospitals.org/locations/uh-geauga-medical-center, or make an appointment by calling 440-901-1278.