Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital has long offered gynecology services, but patients gained a superior level of convenience in 2021, when the hospital pooled its women’s health services at Mercy Women’s Center & Breast Surgery.
The center is staffed by several board-certified nurse practitioners. “We do a lot of annual well-woman visits,” says Michele Strykowsky, CRNP. Strykowsky and Tristin Cadle, CRNP—are all board-certified nurse practitioners. In addition to providing routine preventive gynecological services, such as pap smears and breast exams, they treat acute conditions, such as abnormal bleeding and vaginal irritation. (The center doesn’t provide obstetric services.)
Mercy Women’s Center & Breast Surgery also offers plastic surgery services, including breast reconstruction, reduction and augmentation procedures; body contouring for massive weight loss; and lymphedema management. Lymphedema is a medical condition characterized by swelling from a build-up of lymph fluid in the body. Breast biopsies and surgeries are referred to Karen Kish, MD, Mercy Fitzgerald breast surgeon.
Referrals made easy
Those services are just the tip of the iceberg of what patients can expect. Mercy Women’s Center & Breast Surgery providers can also refer patients to primary care physicians or specialists, as well as a range of other services provided on the Mercy Fitzgerald campus. “We can give referrals for pelvic floor physical therapy,” Strykowsky says, to treat concerns ranging from urinary incontinence to painful intercourse.
Mercy Fitzgerald currently has a trained pelvic floor physical therapist at its Wellness Center, located on the hospital campus.
“It’s convenient that patients don’t have to go somewhere else to receive these helpful services,” Strykowsky says.
If patients need colonoscopies, mammograms or CT scans, they can get them all done at Mercy Fitzgerald too. “We can facilitate referrals for those services in a timely manner,” Dr. Kish says.