Washington University Physicians Expand Digestive Health Services to Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital  
August 13, 2009

As part of our growing expansion of services, Washington University gastroenterologists have added nationally ranked interventional expertise to our Creve Coeur campus.

"Washington University gastroenterologists are national leaders in their field," says Larry Tracy, chief operating officer at Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital. "We are pleased to expand our services in digestive health by combining world-class private and faculty physicians with exceptional nursing care, all in a convenient West County location."

Steven Edmundowicz, MD, director of interventional endoscopy at Washington University, along with Sreenivasa Jonnalagadda, MD; Dayna Early, MD; Daniel Mullady, MD; and Riad Azar, MD are located in Medical Office Building 2, 10 Barnes West Drive, with clinical office hours three afternoons each week. They join Themistocles Dassopoulos, MD; and Chien-Huan Chen, MD, PhD; who perform procedures and have office hours at Barnes-Jewish West County on a regular basis. 

"The gastrointestinal facilities at Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital are state-of-the-art with highly trained staff," said David Goran, MD, medical director of Gastroenterology Services at Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital. "Our GI lab provides an excellent environment for routine GI procedures and advanced interventional procedures. Our lab is backed by anesthesiology, a full-service radiology department, surgery and an inpatient hospital."

Dr. Edmundowicz and his team have clinical and research interests that include diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopy, pancreatic disease and therapies related to gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). "Our expertise in areas such as biliary and pancreatic disease will strengthen the team approach to digestive health offered to patients at Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital," says Dr. Edmundowicz. "We are committed to exceptional care that is easily accessible to patients."

The expansion of Digestive Health Services is the latest to give St. Louis County residents closer access to treatments and therapies that were once only available at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. Previous additions to the Creve Coeur campus include:

• The 2008 opening of a new Siteman Cancer Center facility
• Installation of a linear accelerator for radiation oncology services
• Increased radiology services
• Pediatric services in partnership with St. Louis Children's Hospital