Providence St. Vincent Medical Center (PSVMC) is a state-of-the-art tertiary care center just seven miles from downtown Portland. PSVMC has won regional and national awards for clinical and teaching services and is actively engaged in research.
Residents at PSVMC encounter a diverse population of patients with a broad spectrum of diseases. The 523-bed hospital and referral center enjoys a large catchment area. An average daily census runs at 95 percent of capacity. With 36,000 admissions and 65,000 emergency room visits annually, the hospital is the busiest in Oregon.
PSVMC enjoys a state-of-the-art information retrieval system for both ambulatory and inpatient patient data and broad array of electronically accessed education resources.
The Health Sciences Library at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center provides our health care professionals, residents, students and employees with the most up-to-date patient care information. The library subscribes to more than 500 medical and nursing journals and owns more than 3,000 current books. The library provides access to more than 270 full-text online journals, several electronic resources, such as Harrison's Internal Medicine, Scientific American Medicine, M.D. Consult, Staffer, UpToDate, and many of the OVID family of databases, such as Medline, Nursing, The Cochrane databases, Aidsline and Cancerlit. Remote access to electronic resources is also available.
Access to the library collection and computer lab is available 24 hours a day. During regular business hours, the library is staffed by a professional medical librarian and two highly skilled medical library specialists. All library services, including computerized literature searching, document delivery, Internet and MedLine instruction, and a current awareness service are provided at no charge to the physicians, employees and patients of Providence Health & Services.
The Information Services Department at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center is on the cutting edge of technology. Computers are available at all nursing stations, call rooms, and throughout the hospital. All have access to the electronic medical databases for labs, medical records and educational resources. Currently all MRI and CT-scan images are also available at each workstation. Soon complete electronic access to all radiographic images will be available. There is an ongoing trial of wireless handheld devices to access patient information in the hospital, and a proposed date for general access is set for early 2005. The outpatient clinic is fully electronic with all records kept on electronic medical records using Logician software. This provides access to information for patient medications and recent outpatient workups that may not be in hospital records.
Remote access to the hospital system is available through special secured servers and an access token allowing one to work from home and check patients’ labs and imaging reports. This service provides access to most of the electronic resources and online journals from home as well.
Headed by internationally renowned cardiac surgeon Dr. Albert Starr, Providence Heart and Vascular Institute, based at PSVMC, is the largest provider of cardiac services in the Pacific Northwest and is one of the nation's premier cardiac centers. The high volume and spectrum of diseases offer unique opportunities for residents to be involved with the most sophisticated cardiac disease management. Learn more>
Providence Multiple Sclerosis Center cares for more MS patients than any other facility in the state. A team of MS experts, including neurologists, therapists, nurses and researchers, offer patients aggressive therapy. The center is a leading participant in regional, national and international clinical trials.
Oregon Medical Laser Center at Providence St. Vincent
Oregon Medical Laser Center (OMLC) is one of the nation's foremost centers in discovering how to harness laser energy to combat a wide range of diseases. Led by Kenton Gregory, M.D., the OMLC collaborates nationally in investigating such fields as photodynamic therapy, laser thrombolysis and elastin.
Providence Center for Health Care Ethics, established in 2000 through a generous private donation, is located at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center. As one of the few community hospitals with an endowed chair in health care ethics, the center offers residents a unique resource for understanding the complex ethical issues of modern health care. Special programs and curricula are integrated into the residency experience, adding to the rich learning environment at PSVMC.
The Center for Outcomes Research and Education (CORE)
Center for Outcomes Research and Education (CORE) at Providence Health & Services seeks to increase knowledge of effective health care treatments and services by applying research and systematic evaluation. Based at PSVMC, and under the direction of Charles Bentz, M.D., CORE is recognized as a national leader in outcomes research.
