Swedish Medical Center

As a police recruit, Bill McGuigan was in the best shape of his life.
Except for the fact he couldn’t walk.

Bill McGuigan

While running a sprint in a fitness test, Bill felt a sharp pain in his leg. A trip to the ER revealed a ruptured spinal disc. By the time he saw the surgeon, the pain was so severe he eagerly said “yes” when the surgeon offered to do the operation that night.
As a football and track coach, Rick Sassara knows the importance of moving quickly.
Especially when you’re having a heart attack.

Rick Sassara

Rick Sassara found out first hand how the emergency department at the Swedish/Cherry Hill campus regularly beats the national averages for starting life-saving treatment when you’ve had a heart attack.
Imagine calling a renowned neurosurgeon and having him insist on seeing you the next morning.
That’s Tera Teeple’s story.

Tera Teeple

Tera knew she had a brain aneurysm and that time was of the essence. So when she heard about Dr. David Newell, she wasn’t expecting he’d ask her to come in the next morning, even though he was heading out of town. That phone call led to successful surgery.
Three orthopedic surgeons told Loren Wickman to live with the pain.
The fourth said, “What are you waiting for?”

Loren Wickman

When Loren Wickman was 60, she was told she was too young to have hip replacement surgery. Then she came to Swedish and said farewell to her old, painful hips.
A few days after Grayson Schmitz was born, she needed some minor surgery.
It ended up saving her life.

Grayson Schmitz

While recovering from a simple surgical procedure, the doctors at Swedish’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit discovered a far more serious problem. Thankfully, because she was already at Swedish, a pediatric-cardiac surgeon was able to correct her life-threatening heart problem.
When Alex Kralicek’s doctor said he needed to see her right away, she asked, “What? Do I have a brain tumor?”

Alex Kralicek

When you’re a busy young mom, a brain tumor is the last thing you’d expect you’d have to contend with. Fortunately, Alex came to Swedish and discovered that brain surgery isn’t as ominous as it might sound.
Kay Wieland didn’t know who to thank first for treating her cervical cancer:
Her surgeon or her robot.

Kay Wieland

When Kay’s surgeon recommended a total hysterectomy, she also had some good news: by using the da Vinci robotic surgical system, Kay’s recovery would be much shorter and less painful. Even better, the surgery totally rid Kay of the cancer.
Suzie Bruce says “routine” gall bladder surgery isn’t routine when it’s your gall bladder.

Suzie Bruce

Even though Swedish surgeons perform thousands of gall bladder and other general surgeries every year, it’s still a very big deal when you’re on the other end of the scalpel. Suzie reports that no one took her case lightly.
Dawne Kirkwood came to Swedish to have her brain tumor removed through an unlikely place. Her nostril.

Dawne Kirkwood

20 years ago, when Dawne was first diagnosed with a brain tumor, the surgery took 20 hours and kept her in the hospital for more than two months. When the tumor came back, her surgery lasted an hour and she went home the next day.
On January 9, Marcia Kelly gave birth to her first son at Swedish.
Three weeks later, his twin brother was born.

Marcia Kelly

Learn how Swedish's team of experts at high-risk pregnancies and deliveries combined forces with one of the region's few Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Units to send Marcia and Eugene Kelly home with the children they thought they'd never have.
Antoine Dalnoky already had a heart problem. He wasn’t looking to add a split sternum and 12-inch scar to the list.

Antoine Dalnoky

When Antoine learned his mitral heart valve needed repair, he expected he was in for traditional open-heart surgery — and the weeks of recovery that come with it. Then he met Dr. Glenn Barnhart at the Swedish Heart & Vascular Institute.
At 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Kippen Westphal had treatment for a brain tumor.
At 6 p.m. on Wednesday, she had dinner with her clients.

Kippen Westphal

When Kippen Westphal found out a benign brain tumor — one she thought had been successfully removed nearly a decade earlier — had grown back, she looked for a different answer, and found one with painless, surgery-free CyberKnife treatment.
Natalie Anderson was told the knee she damaged in a motorcycle accident required amputation.
Then she came to Swedish.

Natalie Anderson

When you're only 27, knee replacement surgery isn't usually an option, as the implants usually won't last a lifetime. But Dr. Sean Toomey of the Swedish Orthopedic Institute had a plan to save Natalie's leg and give her back an active life.

Great care is not a chance. It's a choice.

Every story you'll see here has a happy ending. But they didn't happen by chance. All these people came to Swedish because they made a conscious decision — they either sought Swedish out on their own, or they saw a physician who practices here. There are thousands of doctors who do, and if you'll click the button below we'll gladly help you find one.