Kaiser Expands in South County; EndiCOR Moving
Dr. Kenneth Wright, a pediatric ophthalmologist at UCI Medical Center (who joined the hospital in July) recently performed cataract surgery on a 2 1/2-week-old infant,the youngest patient to get such surgery in the hospital’s history, officials say.
Cataracts,a hardening and clouding of the natural lens inside the eye,usually afflict seniors; the baby girl’s situation was a rare congenital condition, which left her with only limited peripheral vision.
For the surgical procedure, Wright made an incision in the eye and took out the hardened and opaque lens “to leave the pathway clear, so her brain can develop normally,” said Tina Kiss, coordinator of pediatric ophthalmology at the medical center.
The Mission Viejo baby will be fitted with contact lenses soon and will have to wear them until she is about 3 or 4 years old. At that time, Wright will give her an intraocular lens implant, which resembles a small contact lens, to replace the one that was removed.
Since visual pathways in the brain develop during the first three or four months of life, the surgery gives the infant the best chance to develop normal vision, Kiss said. One limitation is that the child will not be able to read without the help of bifocal corrective lenses. However, without the surgery, the child “would remain blind to a certain degree,” Kiss said.
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Kaiser Permanente recently opened a new outpatient medical office facility in San Juan Capistrano and signed a five-year agreement with Irvine Medical Center to provide medical, surgical, obstetrical and emergency services. It’s all in an effort to improve accessibility for Kaiser’s 50,000 South County members, officials say.
The new 30,000-square-foot outpatient facility will offer primary care, ob-gyn services, a pharmacy and laboratory and radiology services. It also boasts a 10-foot by 10-foot tile mural in the lobby of an early 1800s mission landscape of California. The facility is near the intersection of Junipero Serra and Camino Capistrano.
EndiCOR Medical Inc., Carlsbad, is relocating its headquarters to San Clemente. The 60-employee company is about to move into its new 26,000-square-foot facility, which is triple the size of the old one, according to officials. Manufacturing will continue for the time being in the old plant, until the company’s new clean-room is operational.
The medical device company, which will be at 1041 Calle Trepadora, also added two sales directors to oversee its international sales team. Hak Tam and Hans Fredman will be in charge of product strategy and overall product management. EndiCOR makes catheter systems to treat blocked coronary arteries.
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Bits and pieces:
The FDA has approved Allergan’s Alocril eye drops to treat itch associated with eye infections. The product is expected to be launched by March 2000 Masimo Corp., an Irvine maker of vital-sign monitors has acquired Vital Insite Inc., San Francisco, a maker of non-invasive continuous blood-pressure monitors. Vital Insite is a start-up that has invested $17 million in the past few years to develop the monitor Maret Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Newport Beach, has started clinical trials on a drug called MARstem that may be used to treat decreases in white blood cell counts following chemotherapy Tenet Healthcare Foundation and the 10 Orange County Tenet HealthSystem hospitals gave a $170,000 grant to the Sierra Health Center in Fullerton. The non-profit community clinic serves low-income patients in the northwestern part of the county. The money will go toward the agency’s relocation and expansion program Bergen Brunswig Drug Co. recently announced an agreement to serve as primary supplier to 200 pharmacies operated through the Southeast by Fred’s Inc. The partners of Werlin-Zarutskie Fertility Centers have separated their practices. Dr. Lawrence Werlin will operate the Coastal Fertility Medical Center in Irvine with Dr. Ilene Hatch, while Dr. Paul Zarutskie will operate as Paul W. Zarutskie, M.D. Inc. in Laguna Niguel Aliso Laguna Village has opened the Village Memory Research & Assessment Center for clinical memory research studies and dementia assessment. Services will include memory-loss screenings and formal dementia assessments. It also will conduct in-patient and out-patient clinical trials Phone and fax services company American Nortel Communications has acquired a 5.6% equity in MedCom USA, an Irvine-based medical technology company. Analysts say the move is similar to other recent strategic pairings between web content providers and telecom firms, such as SBC Communications’ deal with Prodigy VitalCom Inc., a Tustin provider of patient information networks, recently installed its PatientNet system at Saint Luke’s,Shawnee Mission Health System in Kansas City, Mo.
