Dozens of hospital staff and emergency service workers, including members of the Louisville Fire Department, marked the occasion with a ribbon-cutting and celebration at the center.

The new Burn Center is on the hospital’s sixth floor, in 6 East, and holds 16 beds. The center was formerly housed on the hospital’s fifth floor, where it held six beds.

“What makes this space so unique is that from start to finish, it was specifically designed just for burn patients,” said Glen Franklin, M.D., a trauma surgeon and a professor in the Department of Surgery at the UofL School of Medicine. “It was made just for them, by the people who take care of them. It’s special.”

Lori Sipes, clinical nurse manager for the Burn Center, said the renovation marks 35 years of UofL Hospital having a dedicated burn unit. She said the expansion and renovation will help provide even better service to the community and state.

“We are expanding all of our services, from beds to staff to therapy, to offer even better care for patients and their families,” she said. “Everything has been improved and updated, and they have a new state-of-the-art area to be treated in.”

Sipes said the center has 36 critical care nurses and technicians, all of whom have specialized education and training in the care of burn patients and the most up-to-date methods for their care. Its physical therapist is the only wound specialist in Kentucky dedicated to burns.

Sipes said the center’s brand new beds are the newest and best surfaces for patients, and each room has its own temperature and humidity control and heat lamps, which she said is important for burn patients as the skin is a primary method of thermoregulation. A new, larger hydrotherapy room with a shower system is also part of the new center.

Even the color palate and interior design is designed to be more soothing for patients and families, she said, with a sitting area in each room, cubbyholes to charge cell phones and a dedicated room where families can conference with staff or members can be alone.

Among those in attendance Friday were Louisville Fire Department Chief Greg Frederick and Romaine Knight, a firefighter assigned to Engine 5 downtown at Floyd and Jefferson streets. Knight has firsthand experience in UofL Hospital’s Burn Center as a patient.

On Sept. 20, 2017, he suffered serious burns to his left hand and was admitted to the Burn Center. He was in the center’s intensive care unit for eight days, where he underwent skin grafts to his hand.

“They really have a good team there,” he said. “Everyone was exceptional. They were all so nice, from the nurses, to the technicians, to the plastic surgeons. And they have so much experience, which really helped alleviate my worries. They were able to explain what was happening, and what I could expect – the next day, the next week, the next month, the next year, and even the next couple of years.”

After surgery, he went immediately into physical therapy, which he continued at the UofL Physicians Outpatient Center after he was released from the hospital.

“They did everything they could to ensure I didn’t lose function of my hand, which was vital for me,” he said. “They told me that they would do whatever it took to have the best outcome.”

Today, he said he has virtually normal function of his hand.��

“I really, really appreciate everyone’s service.”

Just before the new Burn Center’s opening, UofL Hospital was re-verified as a Level I Trauma Center by the , recognizing its dedication to providing the highest quality of trauma care for all injured patients. UofL Hospital is one of just two adult Level I Trauma Centers in the state of Kentucky.

A team of experienced reviewers in the field of trauma conducted an on-site review of the hospital in July, and the hospital received word of the re-verification this month in an official letter. The verification process provides confirmation the hospital has demonstrated its commitment to providing optimal care.

“The re-verification is acknowledgement of all the hard work that happens here at UofL Hospital every day,” said Kim Denzik, MSN, RN, director of the UofL Hospital Trauma Institute. “There is a tremendous amount of work and preparation that goes into the trauma review. There are a lot of people to be thanked for their continued hard work, diligence and commitment to providing the very best care for our patients.”

The re-verification came from the Committee, an ad hoc committee of the group’s .

The Committee on Trauma’s verification program does not designate trauma centers, rather it provides confirmation that a trauma center has demonstrated its commitment to providing the highest quality of trauma care. The actual establishment and designation of a trauma center is the function of local, regional or state agencies. However, verified trauma centers must meet essential criteria that ensure trauma care capability and institutional performance as outlined by the Committee on Trauma.

Having the expert level of care here in Louisville is important to patients like Brandon Clark, who was in a dirt bike accident in March 2017 at age 19.

“I was at my girlfriend’s house racing my brother when the throttle got stuck and I was thrown 53 feet,” Clark said. He was transported from Floyds Knobs, Indiana, to UofL Hospital, where he was diagnosed with a broken femur and a separated shoulder. He underwent surgery with an orthopedic specialist at UofL Hospital the next morning.

“It was very rough in the beginning,” Clark said. “I was just 19, and I couldn’t even walk. I left the hospital in a wheelchair. I wanted to give up on life. But nobody there let me give up.”

By August 2018, he was walking again at the Kentucky State Fair. It was there he ran into a member of the Trauma Center’s staff, Annabelle Pike.

“I wanted to tell her just how great it felt to be walking again. I wouldn’t be here without the staff at UofL Hospital. They work with you a lot. They want to help you out the most,” he said.

He’s now going to the University of Northwestern Ohio to be a diesel mechanic, and driving home on weekends to do farming and construction work from his home in Ballardsville. On Oct. 16, he said he was able to run a mile, just a year and a half after his stay at UofL Hospital.

He said he’s appreciative of the second chance he was given. “It made me realize you can lose your life in the blink of an eye.”

There are five separate categories of verification in the Committee on Trauma’s program: Level I Trauma Center; Level II Trauma Center; Level III Trauma Center; Level I Pediatric Trauma Center; and Level II Pediatric Trauma Center. Each has specific criteria that must be met. UofL Hospital is one of just two adult Level I Trauma Centers in the state of Kentucky, with the other at the University of Kentucky’s Albert B. Chandler Hospital.

On Sunday, there were lots of smiles, hugs, cheers and tears from students and their families at the School of Medicine’s White Coat Ceremony, which formally marks the students’ entry into medical school.��

At the annual ceremony, UofL faculty and the local medical community formally welcome first-year medical students (known as “M1s”) by presenting them with their first white coat, a gift from the Greater Louisville Medical Society. They also received their first stethoscope, courtesy of the Stethoscopes for Students program, an effort funded by alumni of the UofL School of Medicine.

The class of 2022 is a diverse group, with the youngest being 19, and the oldest 32. Forty-three percent of the class is female, and 11 percent are from groups underrepresented in medicine. Twelve percent are from rural Kentucky counties. The 163 were selected from a pool of 3,558, and come from 18 different states and 58 different colleges and universities.

Compassion was a theme of the ceremony. Speakers urged students to take care of themselves so that they could take better care of others.

UofL President Neeli Bendapudi, PhD, gave the students three pieces of advice: to take care of themselves, to look out for one another, and to recognize that being a doctor meant they were part of a broader community.

“Remember, you will be treating a whole human,” she advised. “When you are physicians and you are working with a patient, the patient is more than an aching knee or a tumor, or something else that’s wrong with them. You need to see the psychosocial dimensions of every individual. The more you cultivate your own humanity, the more you cultivate who you are and the better off you will be.”

She told them they had chosen a noble profession. “You will see us when we are at our most vulnerable, our most nervous, most scared, and we will look to you to be our partners, our coaches, to be our cheerleaders, and I am thrilled that you’ve chosen to embark on that journey with us at UofL.”

Keynote speaker Barry Kerzin, MD, a Buddhist monk and founder and president of the Altruism in Medicine Institute and the personal physician to the Dalai Lama, also urged the students to practice self-care, along with humility and gratitude.

“The more you give, the more you receive. That’s enough. It says it all. … The more you love, the more you are loved. The more you are kind, the more kindness is shown to you,” he said.

He noted, “these are kind of compasses to try to orient our lives. Of course we won’t achieve these things overnight, maybe not – probably not – fully achieved in a lifetime. But these are goals, these are aspirations.”

He said gratitude was “extremely important.”

“To feel gratitude for the next breath that you take. That you’re alive. It’s wonderful stuff,” he said. “It makes you feel good, makes you appreciate life. Even when you’re having a rough time.”

He said humility, by decreasing the ego and arrogance, increases compassion and love.

“So in terms of a doctor, make a proper diagnosis, give a treatment, but also support the patient emotionally and the family emotionally. That’s critical, and that’s what makes a good doctor.”

After Kerzin’s speech, the students filed across the stage in groups, where UofL doctors helped them don their coats. The students’ first white coat is a short white coat, and after they graduate from medical school, they are entitled to wear a long white coat. The white coat symbolizes cleanliness and the compassion that inspires students to become physicians. As they walked from the stage, they were handed their stethoscopes.

Led by Greg Postel, MD, executive vice president for Health Affairs at UofL, the students then took the Declaration of Geneva, a more modern version of the Oath of Hippocrates, in which a new physician swears to uphold professional ethical standards.

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The event, which is open to the public, will feature healthy food options from more than 20 different restaurants and local grocers, as well as a cash bar, live music from (blues, R&B, reggae, jazz), a silent auction and raffles.

Hosted by , the and the , the event will be held from 6-8 p.m. at the UofL Kosair Charities Clinical and Translational Research Building at 505 S. Hancock St. on the UofL Health Sciences Campus.

The cost of the event is $45 for members of the Kentucky Nurses Association, and $50 for others. The money will go toward scholarship funds, education and research at the , and some also will go to UofL Physicians – Infectious Diseases for vaccine supplies. The event also will feature a “Giving Tree.” 

“The event is a way for restaurants and the community to say ‘thank you’ to nurses for their efforts to mobilize and come to restaurants and vaccinate all workers against hepatitis A,” said , clinical director of the and an associate professor at the .

Nurses from UofL vaccinated around 6,000 people at restaurants in Louisville and Jefferson County. Hepatitis A is a highly contagious liver infection, most likely to be spread from contaminated food or water or from close contact with an infected person or contaminated object.

“It’s important to recognize their contribution to public health,” Carrico said. “It’s also important to realize what a resource UofL is, in that we have the ability to mobilize and respond to a public health crisis such as this.”

RSVPs are requested by July 20 by visiting the Kentucky Nurses Foundation site , or by calling the Kentucky Nurses Association office at 502-245-2843.

The annual Outstanding Investigator Award, one of the society’s highest and most prestigious, recognizes a scientist who is making major and independent contributions to the advancement of cardiovascular science, and is leading a growing research program likely to play a major role in the future.

Jones is a senior faculty member at UofL’s and a professor at the . A goal of his research is to understand the mechanisms of cardiac muscle damage during a heart attack, and to develop novel therapeutics to preserve the heart. He also is investigating the confounding influence of risk factors, such as diabetes, on the development of heart disease, and the molecular explanations of ventricular remodeling and heart failure.

Jones was chosen by an international panel of experts from among some of the best scientists in the world. The winner presents a major lecture and receives a $1,500 honorarium and plaque. Jones delivered his lecture Tuesday morning at the meeting, which is taking place July 16-19 at in Amsterdam. The meeting is focused on basic and translational research in cardiology. The topic of his lecture was “Non-catabolic Fates of Glucose in the Heart.”

The International Society for Heart Research, which has 3,000 members on five continents, is an international organization devoted to promoting cardiovascular research. It is dedicated to the discovery and dissemination of knowledge in cardiovascular science worldwide, and publishes the Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology.

The Outstanding Investigator Award was created by UofL researcher , when he served as the society’s secretary general nearly two decades ago. Bolli is the director of UofL’s Institute of Molecular Cardiology and scientific director of UofL’s . He is also a professor and chief of the at UofL. The award is for established investigators in the intermediate phase of their academic career.

“The roster of previous recipients for the Outstanding Investigator Award is simply amazing,” Bolli said. “We are proud of Steven, and grateful for his support in the research mission of the Institute of Molecular Cardiology here at UofL. He has been one of my best recruits ever.”

Jones serves on the editorial boards of several journals, including the Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology, Basic Research in Cardiology, and Circulation Research. Since 2012, Dr. Jones also has been associate/consulting editor for the American Journal of Physiology — Heart and Circulatory Physiology.

He regularly serves on editorial boards and review panels for the and the . He recently started a term as chairperson of the Myocardial Ischemia and Metabolism Study Section of the NIH’s . In addition to Jones, the study section consists of 18 experts from around the U.S.

Jones received his doctorate in physiology in 2002 from Louisiana State University. After graduation, he joined Johns Hopkins University, where he focused on mitochondrial function with the goal of developing a deeper understanding of the metabolism-dependent mechanisms of cell death and survival. He came to UofL in 2004.

On Tuesday, an unsuspecting Jones was led by co-workers into the M. Krista Loyd Resource Center at the cancer center, where she was presented with her award by Marc Lehmann’s father, George.

Marc Lehmann, a UofL student, passed away in 2012 after an eight-year battle with cancer. He had been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia just a few months after high school graduation.

The Spirit of Service Awards in his name are given to oncology support staff who show compassionate patient support.

At the Brown Cancer Center, Jones provides psychosocial support and clinical case management for patients in the neuro, bone marrow transplant and gynecological oncology clinics. She works closely with bone marrow transplant patients with complicated issues that require lengthy care.

In her award nomination, nurse manager Dianne Thomas wrote that Jones “possesses a warm and friendly mannerism that is evident on your first encounter.” She noted Jones’ dedication and compassion to low-income patients, and her ability to build a strong rapport. Thomas noted that Jones has carved out new avenues for funding for patients, and “has become a valuable asset to her peers, as well as patients.”

She said Jones “deserves to be recognized for her dedication and loyalty.”

The Marc A. Lehmann Spirit of Service Award Foundation’s mission is to conduct and promote initiatives that encourage medical care with empathy and compassion, and to recognize physicians, caregivers and support staff with long-standing service to patients and their families in the areas of hematology and oncology.

Each October, the foundation holds an awards banquet at Vincenzo’s Italian restaurant, where five deserving oncology support staff from the community are recognized, along with one physician.

This year’s banquet will be held on Oct. 26. The featured speaker will be Jason Chesney, MD, director of the Brown Cancer Center, and the featured physician will be Kelly McMasters, MD, chair of the Hiram C. Polk Jr., MD, Department of Surgery at UofL and director of the Multidisciplinary Melanoma Clinic.

Paul Resch, director and advisory committee member of the foundation, is a leukemia survivor himself. He told Jones that in addition to doctors, he knew from experience how important the support staff was to cancer patients.

“It’s the feet on the ground that touch us every day that make a difference – whether it’s a touch, or a conversation. You’re blessed that you have those skills, and you’re sharing them with others. And it does make a difference.”

The editorial by , director of Cardiovascular Disease Prevention at the UofL School of Medicine and a cardiologist with UofL Physicians, and Patrick Trainor, a data scientist on DeFilippis’ research team, accompanied a study of a new risk prediction model that could improve the guideline-recommended scoring systems for who is at risk.

That study, by a group of researchers from Stanford University, the University of Michigan, the University of Washington, the University of Mississippi and Harvard Medical School, showed a widely used scoring system that helps physicians identify who is at risk for heart disease may inaccurately estimate risk, especially for certain patients, such as African-Americans. The scoring system, last updated in 2013, is recommended by the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association.

DeFilippis said that accurate risk predication is needed to effectively balance the risks and benefits of medicines used to prevent heart disease, and is important to help doctors decide who needs a statin, blood pressure medications or aspirin.

“Doctors must balance the risk of medication side effects with the risk of disease,” DeFilippis said. “Medications are expensive, and unnecessary treatment also costs the healthcare system, which is not an endless resource.”

DeFilippis has led efforts to evaluate cardiovascular disease risk prediction scoring systems, analyzing how they perform using data from clinical studies. He said that while this new study is helpful, risk scoring must continue to evolve based on demographic and societal trends and the availability of new biomarkers for assessing cardiovascular disease.

“Risk prediction is of tremendous benefit,” DeFilippis said. “The guideline-recommended scoring models were created from data collected from groups of patients decades ago. This new study used more modern patient groups and new methods for making the risk calculations.”

He noted that as heart disease is the leading killer of Americans, assessing risk is a critical issue. And while the calculator isn’t perfect, “there is no question these calculators are better than the eyeball test and certainly outperform a physician just saying ‘I think this person is high or low risk’ after looking at them.”

In previous studies, DeFilippis and other researchers at the University of Louisville, Johns Hopkins University and the University of Washington looked at the 2013 scoring system, along with three others, in a study of different ethnic groups. They collected information on patients who began participating in 2000-2002 and followed them for 10 years, evaluating the accuracy of the 2013 scoring model and publishing the results in 2015 in the Annals of Internal Medicine. That study found that the guideline-recommended calculator overestimated a person’s risk.

A 2017 study in the journal The BMJ (formerly the British Medical Journal) noted more than one in five Americans between the ages of 40 and 75 takes a statin. It has been hotly debated who should take statins, and several studies have questioned the accuracy of the risk calculator.

DeFilippis said the new study published this week rebuilds the risk score using a different statistical approach. It re-analyzed data from participants in multiple large studies. The new risk prediction model was shown to make more accurate predictions of risk for many patients, especially for some ethnicities, though further validation is needed.

Because of the need to continually update data, the team in the study that was published this week made the statistical model and computer code public so other scientists could evaluate them.

DeFilippis said that ultimately, “the decision on who should take statins or other medications to reduce risk should be a conversation between doctor and patient.”

While the guidelines still generally recommend them for some groups with a particular score, he said treatment should be individualized.

The long-awaited study, presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting over the weekend in Chicago, confirmed what many breast cancer specialists, including those at the at the University of Louisville, had already believed.

For women with this common type of cancer – early stage estrogen-receptor positive – anti-estrogen treatments alone provide the same benefit as chemotherapy, without the harsh and sometimes devastating side effects. Chemotherapy can cause hair loss, a weakened immune system and heart problems, among other issues. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide.

“The name of the study is TAILORx, which is perfect, because what this means is that for a large group, treatment can be truly tailored to a woman’s circumstances,” said Elizabeth Riley, MD, FACP, a breast cancer expert at UofL’s Brown Cancer Center and deputy director of the center. “We now have solid data that chemotherapy is not needed for many in this group and helps validate what many specialists already knew.

“For years, physicians made treatment decisions solely based on a woman’s stage of breast cancer. TAILORx now confirms the biology of the tumor may be more important. This study should reassure a woman with very early stage, estrogen-driven breast cancer that chemotherapy can be avoided without increasing her risk of breast cancer,” Riley said.

The study, published Sunday in the New England Journal of Medicine, analyzed how well a widely-used genetic test called the Oncotype DX Breast Recurrence Score assessed the risk of breast cancer returning. The Oncotype DX test looks at 21 genes linked with a likelihood of recurrence. The test has a range between 0 and 100, and determines whether these genes are turned off or on, or are over expressed.

The study’s lead author, Joseph Sparano MD, associate director for clinical research at the Albert Einstein Cancer Center and Montefiore Health System in New York City, said the data confirms women can be spared “unnecessary treatment if the test indicates chemotherapy is not likely to provide benefit.”

Riley noted there are multiple types of breast cancer, with multiple genes involved in the growth of tumors. She said those patients who will benefit from the study’s findings are estrogen sensitive, test negative for HER2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2), a gene that can play a role in the development of breast cancer, and have early-stage tumors below 5 centimeters that have not spread to lymph nodes.

They also have what is considered an intermediate score on the OncotypeDX test, one between 11 and 25.

Riley said that past research has shown women with scores between 0 and 10 could safely forego chemotherapy, while those with scores over 25 were best treated with a combination of chemotherapy and anti-estrogen hormonal treatment, as the cancer recurrence risk in this group was high.

“There have been clear guidelines on treatment for women with a high or low score OncotypeDX score. It was the group in the intermediate range, from 11 to 25, that the degree of benefit of chemotherapy was not well established,” Riley said.

Details of the study

The study followed more than 10,000 women diagnosed with breast cancer between 2006 and 2010. Of those, 6,711 had intermedia scores between 11 and 25. That group was split into two: one receiving hormone therapy and chemotherapy, and the other only hormone therapy.

The women were followed for an average of nine years, and researchers found the outcome in recurrence and survival was virtually the same.

“If you are seen by a doctor tomorrow and have a low to intermediate score on the test, you should expect not to be offered chemotherapy, unless you are under the age of 50,” Riley said.

That is the caveat, she said. Breast cancer in younger women is biologically different, and typically comes with a poorer prognosis. In premenopausal women and those younger than 50, the TAILORx results suggested that hormonal therapy alone may not be enough and chemotherapy may still be needed, she said.

While these patients should discuss their options with their doctor, they would be likely candidates for the more aggressive combination therapy, she said.

“In that case, the treatment decisions are going to depend on more than just the test, such as a thorough analysis of a patient’s particular tumor type. We can’t say that everyone under 50 needs chemotherapy, but future studies may be necessary to interpret the test in this age group,” Riley said.

Breast cancer in younger women is a focus of Riley’s. At the Brown Cancer Center, she also leads the , which addresses the challenges this group faces with regional experts in the management of breast cancer in young women. The program also addresses the impact of treatment on fertility, the patient’s young children, and her career. HER stands for Hope, Empower and Restore.

“This permanently reminds us of and represents the gifts and the sacrifice that have been given by the dozens and dozens of donors that have come through this hospital over the decades,” said Glen Franklin, MD, a trauma surgeon at the hospital.

The Gift of Life Donor Memorial is a sculpted from stone and stands more than 5 feet high, with a bronze plaque featuring two hands holding a heart and the words “Gift of Life Donor.”

Doctors, nurses and staff of UofL Hospital, along with donor families, organ recipients, and representatives from Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates (KODA) and the Trust for Life Organ Donor Awareness Program, were in attendance as the memorial’s cover was removed and the Donate Life flag was raised behind it.

Franklin said the memorial had been eight years in the making, with years of fundraising and a final design decided upon last year. UofL Hospital and KODA employees, transplant recipients and donor families began raising money to fund a memorial on hospital property in 2010, beginning with the Legacy of Life Walk that year.

In addition to honoring organ donors, the memorial is designed to help raise community awareness about organ donation.

“People are used to seeing survivor walls, but these people didn’t survive. But because of their selfless gift, others lived. It’s an opportunity to honor them and their families,” Franklin said.

Donna Edwards’ son Mike became an organ donor at age 25 after he died in a workplace accident. She attended the unveiling with her granddaughter – Mike’s daughter, Mikayla, now a UofL student.

“Right after the funeral, we found out our daughter-in-law was pregnant. Mikayla never had the chance to know her dad, but this is a way to know how he helped other people,” Donna Edwards said. “We knew he wanted to be an organ donor, and he helped save the lives of four other people. I’m thankful we knew ahead of time what he wanted.”

She said the memorial is extremely meaningful for her.

“When I pass and see this memorial for the donors, it makes me feel good inside,” Edwards said. “It helps to know all they do here at this hospital to help save lives.”

The memorial lies to the left of the main entrance to UofL Hospital at 530 S. Jackson Street, between the hospital and UofL James Graham Brown Cancer Center.

“The benefits of not smoking, in particular to the heart, are huge. And with February being American Heart Month, it’s a good time to think about quitting,” said the University of Louisville’s Rachel Keith, PhD, APRN, a specialist in cardiovascular medicine and tobacco treatment. “But it’s a lot more than just halting a bad habit. That’s why we can say our relationship with tobacco is, ‘complicated.’”

Keith, who runs the new UofL Physicians Tobacco Treatment Clinic, said there are “strange dynamics” with tobacco.

“Smoking cessation is hard in general,” she said. “Helping patients to quit smoking often involves a lot of talking and figuring things out.

“We have to really get at WHY they smoke. Perhaps their grandmother died at age 100 even though she smoked, so they don’t believe there’s a connection. Or, she got them smoking and that’s their connection to her now that she’s gone.”

She said many people who come to the clinic have smoked for 30 or 40 years, and they are hesitant to quit. “That’s because it’s almost a part of them. In their view, you are taking away something they don’t know how to replace.”

She said she encourages patients to try different things and look for healthier alternatives when they have the urge for a cigarette.

“But when I ask them, ‘What are some other things you like to do for 10 to 15 minutes?,’ a whole lot of people can’t name those things. Many don’t have anything else. We try to help them find them, whether it’s a hobby or something like taking a walk,” she said.

But again, it’s complicated.

“A lot of patients feel sick, so they think they can’t get out and walk, even though they know it will be easier when they quit. There’s just a lot that goes into smoking, culturally and hormonally.”

People “can’t see the immediate effects of quitting, but they can quickly gain the rewards of smoking, because it’s almost instant. The body actually gets hard-wired to anticipate the effects from tobacco.”

That’s why the new clinic approaches all the factors that make it hard for people to stop, making it Louisville’s only comprehensive tobacco treatment program.

Keith meets with patients and develops a personal, individualized approach that best suits each patient’s needs. During sessions, Keith and patients discuss the benefits of stopping smoking, medication options, and different skills, such as mindfulness and relaxation, to help overcome anxiety.

Medications to treat withdrawal symptoms are paired with the cognitive-behavioral therapy to help patients sustain attempts to quit. Any medical issues also are addressed. One treatment Keith is studying is how to increase people’s motivation with virtual reality therapy, where an immersive session allows patients to imagine what life will be like once they’ve quit.

“The good news is, this type of program has been proven over and over as the most effective method for long-term cessation,” Keith said. “But until we opened, it was hard to find one in this area to get into.”

She said those who try to quit on their own have about a 6 percent chance of succeeding. If they work with a health provider, their chances improve to 10 percent to 15 percent. But with the comprehensive program, patients see a success rate of 30 percent and above.

“Those who have come through the program have done really well,” she said. “Almost everyone who comes through has quit.”

It generally takes about six sessions, usually once a week or every other week, to complete. Afterward, patients return on a more limited basis, and Keith follows up by phone.

Anyone who wants to quit smoking can come to the clinic, and many insurance plans will cover the program at little or no cost to the patient. It is located in Suite 310 of the UofL Physicians Health Care Outpatient Center, 401 E. Chestnut St.

To make an appointment, call 502-588-4600.