Helping Patients Breathe Easier
We take pride in the importance of the physician-patient relationship when it comes to managing a lung or respiratory condition. Our providers are skilled in all aspects of pulmonary and critical care disease management.
Care Throughout the Capital Region
Pulmonary and critical care services are offered at Albany Medical Center, Columbia Memorial Health, Glens Falls Hospital and Saratoga Hospital. The level of care a patient needs may determine which hospital they are treated at.
All physicians and locations in the System can be found in the Get Care section of this page.
Scroll down for critical care information.
- Barrett’s disease
- Benign lung disease
- Benign esophageal diseases
- Achalasia
- Acid reflux disease
- Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
- Hiatal hernia
- Chest wall deformity
- Pectus carinatum
- Pectus excavatum
- End-stage esophageal and airway diseases
- Esophageal cancers (including squamous cell and adenocarcinoma)
- Lung cancer
- Lung tumor, lung nodule, and lung metastasis
- Metastatic cancers affecting organs inside the chest
- Pectus Excavatum
- Pleural effusion
- Ion robotic-assisted bronchoscopy for earlier detection and treatment of lung cancer (available only at Albany Medical Center)
- 64-slice CT scans (available only at Albany Medical Center)
- Bronchoscopy, including narrow-band imaging (available only at Albany Medical Center)
- Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) and advanced pulmonary function testing (PFT)
- Chemotherapy/targeted therapy for cancer
- CT-guided needle biopsy
- Endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS)
- Endoluminal treatment for Barrett’s disease
- Endoscopic treatments
- Radiofrequency ablation
- Endoscopic mucosal resection
- Esophageal dilation
- Esophageal stent placement
- High-dose rate brachytherapy
- Image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT)
- Integrated PET and CT scans
- Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT)
- Interventional bronchoscopy
- Laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication
- Laparoscopic heller myotomy
- Laser ablation of tumors
- Laser treatment for airway and esophageal obstruction
- LINX Reflux Management System
- Mediastinoscopy
- Minimally invasive esophagectomy and thoracic surgery techniques
- Nuclear medicine
- Photodynamic therapy
- Plicator procedure
- Pneumatic dilation
- Stretta procedure
- Thorascopic lobectomy
- Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) lobectomy
- Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) thymectomy
Interventional pulmonology, available only at Albany Medical Center, uses minimally invasive procedures to diagnose and treat conditions of the lungs, including pulmonary nodules, pleural diseases, COPD, advanced emphysema, and cancers involving the chest and airways. The procedures may offer a faster recovery with less pain. Most don’t require a hospital stay.
For more information or to schedule an evaluation for an interventional pulmonology procedure at Albany Medical Center, call 518-262-5196.
Procedures
- Airway stent placement
- Bronchoscopy
- Endobronchial valve placement
- Indwelling pleural catheter placement
- Medical pleuroscopy (thoracoscopy)
- Pleural biopsy
- Pleurodesis
- Robotic bronchoscopy
- Tracheal dilation
- Tracheostomy
- Thermal ablation techniques
- Ultrasound-guided transthoracic needle aspiration
Thoracic surgeons specialize in diseases affecting the organs inside the chest, including the lungs, trachea, esophagus, diaphragm, chest wall, and central chest cavity. Our team cares for patients with the entire spectrum of congenital and acquired thoracic diseases.
To schedule an appointment at Albany Medical Center, call 518-262-LUNG. At Saratoga Hospital, thoracic surgery is offered through Capital Thoracic Surgery. Call 518-383-6532 for an appointment (referral fax: 518-383-2185)
Conditions We Treat:
- Esophageal cancer
- Lung cancer
- Lung tumor, nodule, and metastasis
- Metastatic cancers affecting organs inside the chest
- Benign and malignant pleural conditions, including pleural plaque and tumors and effusion
- Mediastinal tumors
- Tumors of the chest wall
See a list of Physicians and Locations
Our lung cancer team includes pulmonologists, thoracic surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, pathologists, radiologists, and nurse navigators. Together, we work to understand each patient’s specific diagnosis and develop an individualized plan of care, whether they are newly diagnosed, have recurrent lung cancer, have another cancer that has spread to the lungs, or are seeking a second opinion.
Our state-of-the-art imaging and diagnostic testing includes 64-slice CT scans, integrated PET/CT scans, CT-guided needle biopsy, and more.
See a list of Physicians and Locations
Some people who have had Covid experience prolonged illness for weeks to months after recovering from their acute illness. Long Covid patients may have lingering symptoms that include shortness of breath, cough, fatigue or exhaustion, racing heart, chest pain, an inability to concentrate or a general feeling of malaise.
Led by our pulmonologists, the Post-Covid Care Clinic at Albany Medical Center provides comprehensive, compassionate care. As part of their initial visit to the clinic, patients will receive a pulmonary function test (PFT) to evaluate how well their respiratory system is working. Further tests, referrals, and treatment are based on symptoms and medical history.
The Post-Covid Care Clinic treats patients 18 years and older who have lingering symptoms at least four weeks after their initial diagnosis.
To schedule an appointment at Albany Medical Center, call 518-262-5196.
The Capital Region community is fortunate to have an internationally recognized sarcoidosis expert, Marc Judson, MD, leading a team of specialists who work with each patient to determine the best treatment options.
Chief of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Dr. Judson is a frequent speaker on the subject and runs one of the largest sarcoidosis clinics in the northeast. He is currently the President of the Americas Association of Sarcoidosis and Other Granulomatous Disorders, and the American Sarcoidosis Medical Society. He has published more than 100 articles about the disease.
Sarcoidosis is an inflammatory disease that can affect any part of the body, but most commonly impacts the lungs. While its cause is unknown and it often goes away on its own, many people with sarcoidosis experience symptoms that come and go over a lifetime. Common symptoms include cough; chest pain; skin rashes on the face, arms or shins; inflammation of the eyes; weight loss; and fatigue.
Our goal is to alleviate symptoms, ensure the affected organs are functioning properly, and help patients get back to their daily activities.
To schedule an appointment at Albany Medical Center, call 518-262-5196.
Critical Care at Albany Medical Center
In our intensive care units, you can be sure you or your loved ones are under the care of the most highly trained and skilled surgeons as befitting an academic medical center. Our pulmonologists work with the medical staff in intensive care to manage breathing and respiratory issues with the highest level of skill and technology in the region.
Medical Critical Care
The Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) cares for patients with critical medical issues. The unit, located in our Patient Pavilion, is equipped with the latest technology and offer one-to-one nursing and an array of other medical specialists.
Surgical Critical Care
The Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) cares of patients after surgery with acute, life-threatening, or potentially life-threatening surgical conditions such as shock, severe sepsis, respiratory failure, and advanced multi-organ failure, in addition to caring for patients with traumatic injuries.
ECMO Care in Albany
Albany Medical Center has the largest Extracorporeal Life Support (ECMO) program in northeastern New York for treating heart failure and lung failure.
Critical Care at Columbia Memorial Health
Our state-of-the-art critical care ventilators provide the most effective modes of non-invasive and invasive ventilation and monitoring. This sophisticated equipment allows our community to receive a high level of care within our ICU and ER. Our critical care pulmonologists, respiratory therapists, and nurses are all highly skilled and certified.
Our Echo Lab is capable of both 2D and 3D image acquisition. This allows our cardiologists the ability to assess heart function immediately non-invasively. If a higher level of invasive diagnostic tests are warranted, we also perform the highly specialized TEE, a procedure that allows pictures of the heart to be taken from inside the body, providing a better image.
Critical Care at Glens Falls Hospital
Located on Tower 5, our critical care staff members work closely with patients, families, and other partners in care to determine care planning, decision making, how to promote safety, and how to support the patient during the hospital stay.
Call 518-926-6800 to reach the critical care unit at Glens Falls Hospital.
Training the Next Generation of Physicians
Learn more about our graduate medical education fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine.
