City: Atlanta, GA

Category: Health Care

Telephone: (404) 851-8000

Address: 1000 Johnson Ferry Rd. NE

Description: Northside Hospital is a 753-bed, nonprofit, full-service community hospital serving the north Atlanta community. More than 1,800 physicians from a variety of fields staff the hospital, which cares for more than 600,000 patients annually. With more than 18,000 babies born at Northside each year, the hospital ranks first in the nation among community hospitals in the baby delivery business. The hospital provides a Perinatal Diagnostic Unit as well as a High-Risk Perinatal Unit for women who must be hospitalized during high-risk pregnancies. The hospital’s Breast Care Center houses state-of-the-art equipment, and Northside’s staff includes surgeons who are nationally known for treating complicated gynecological conditions. Staff surgeons helped pioneer videolaparoscopy, a technique that dramatically reduces recovery time for many operations. Northside opened Atlanta’s first outpatient surgery center more than two decades ago. Northside’s Institute for Cancer Control features an American Cancer Society Information Center. Here patients find out about a program in which former cancer patients spend time with current patients and the “Look Good . . . Feel Better” program, which offers consultations on how to cope with the physical changes brought on by chemotherapy and radiation. Screen Atlanta, Northside Hospital’s mobile health-screening unit, fosters cancer’s early detection by bringing education and low-cost screening procedures to the community. At the request of businesses and other organizations, the ScreenAtlanta van travels throughout metro Atlanta, offering tests for lung function, cholesterol, and diabetes as well as computerized cancer-risk assessment and information on breast, testicular, oral, skin, and colorectal cancer. The mobile mammography van provides mammograms. Northside offers a variety of support groups and classes addressing such topics as parenting, children’s issues, adolescence, divorce, assertiveness skills, stress reduction, and communications skills. The hospital’s Recovery Center focuses on programs and groups for adults and adolescents whose lives have been affected by alcohol and/or drug abuse. Northside operates a sleep disorders center and a 24-hour major emergency department. For minor emergencies, Northside’s Health Express, open Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to midnight, eliminates long waits.