With the addition of a new board-certified, fellowship-trained plastic surgeon, Beaufort Memorial is expanding patient access to life-changing breast surgery options, as well as opening a new plastic surgery and aesthetics practice in Okatie.
Heidi Harrington, M.D. is the plastic surgeon at the helm of the new practice. Her expertise, paired with the passion and skill of board-certified, fellowship-trained breast oncology surgeons with the Beaufort Memorial Breast Care & Surgery Program, means that the hospital is stepping into a new, empowering era of expanded breast reconstruction options for mastectomy patients in the Lowcountry.
Drs. Tara Grahovac and Heidi Harrington. “We’re constantly in communication, strategizing approaches together,” said Dr. Grahovac.
Dr. Harrington has two decades of experience in the areas of plastic, reconstructive, and cosmetic surgery. She and her team provide a comprehensive array of services for the face, breasts, and body. In addition to office consultations for patients’ reconstructive and cosmetic concerns, Dr. Harrington will offer office-based minor surgeries, as well as cosmetic procedures such as Botox and volumizing fillers, at her office in Okatie. More complex surgeries will take place at the hospital’s main campus in Beaufort.
She is currently working in tandem with breast oncology surgeon Tara Grahovac, M.D., FACS, to develop a breast reconstruction program at the hospital, offering patients those specialized breast procedures close to home and using advanced technology that can significantly improve outcomes for women on their survivor journey.
“I am thrilled to welcome Dr. Harrington, and I am personally excited about her vast experience in reconstructive surgery, and breast reconstruction in particular,” said Dr. Grahovac. “I’m delighted to collaborate with a talented plastic surgeon who has specific expertise in the most current techniques and technologies.”
Expanding breast reconstruction care
While breast reconstruction is just one part of the expertise Dr. Harrington is bringing to the region, it’s one that she’s particularly passionate about – and it brings Beaufort Memorial into a new chapter of innovation, self-confidence, and convenient care for breast cancer patients.
For many women who have undergone mastectomies, reconstructive plastic surgery can play a key role in their return to normalcy and wholeness by restoring their breast shape and appearance.
With Dr. Harrington joining the hospital staff, the mastectomy and the reconstruction can both be done in a single “direct to implant” surgery, a procedure that, prior to Dr. Harrington joining the ranks at Beaufort Memorial, required both the patient and Dr. Grahovac to travel to MUSC Health in Charleston, with the patient continuing to travel there for follow-up appointments.
“The goal was to keep that same standard of big-university-level care, but recruit the right person so we can keep it at that elite level here at Beaufort Memorial,” Dr. Grahovac said. “We wanted quality and convenience, and bringing Dr. Harrington here was a part of that.”
Now, patients can have their reconstructive surgery here, closer to home, as well as have the option to have their breast reconstructed at the time of their mastectomy. It’s more convenient for patients, Dr. Harrington said, and there are mental benefits, too.
“Studies have shown that patients do better when they are able to have their breast reconstruction done at the same time as the mastectomy,” Dr. Harrington said. “From a psychological, self-identity standpoint, we just see better overall outcomes for patients that don’t have to go through a phase where they feel ‘disfigured’ or ‘not whole.’”
While it’s a victory for patients to have access to this specialized breast procedure right in their backyard, it’s not just the proximity that makes things easier.
It’s the procedure as well.
Traditionally at the time of a mastectomy, Dr. Harrington said, a patient would have a “tissue expander” placed under their pectoralis muscle (the thick, fan-shaped muscle lying underneath a woman’s breast tissue). When the surgery is complete, the patient would then return for a second surgery to have the expander removed and the implant placed.
Not only does that mean two surgeries for the patient rather than one swift procedure, but disturbing the pectoralis muscle often makes for discomfort and animation deformities, which can be “very upsetting for a lot of patients,” Dr. Harrington said.
Dr. Harrington performed Beaufort Memorial’s first direct-to-implant procedures following mastectomies last fall.
“We’ve been able to really change the recovery process for these patients,” she said. As the most minimally invasive breast reconstruction option, “it is a far less uncomfortable surgery to recover from, and patients have far fewer issues with functional outcomes afterward.”
Meet Dr. Harrington: Join board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. Heidi Harrington and her team on Wednesday, January 15, from 5 to 7 p.m. for Plastics & Prosecco, an opportunity to meet the staff, tour the office, see aesthetic procedures and technology demonstrations, and enjoy drinks, light bites, event specials, giveaways, and product drawings. The free meet-and-greet will be held at the Beaufort Memorial Plastic Surgery & Aesthetics office on the second floor of the Okatie Medical Pavilion. RSVP at BeaufortMemorial.org/PlasticsProsecco.
New, innovative horizons
With the expansion of specialized procedures at Beaufort Memorial comes the opportunity for technological advancement in the operating room and innovative solutions to further aid patient outcomes.
Mastectomies are traumatic to the breast skin, Dr. Harrington said, and a major challenge as a reconstructive surgeon is deciding whether a patient’s skin is healthy enough to proceed directly to an implant.
Enter SPY-PHI technology, a game changer during direct-to-implant procedures.
Dr. Harrington injects a safe fluorescent dye into a patient’s IV and then uses the handheld imaging tool to view the dye in the bloodstream. Using the tool to see the dye in a patient’s bloodstream helps her assess the blood flow through the skin after the mastectomy has been performed, which in turn allows her to make a more confident decision about the health of the skin and the safety of proceeding directly to an implant.
“I’m able to do one-stage, direct-to-implant reconstruction with the confidence of knowing that the blood supply looked good and what we’re doing is safe, and then put the implant above the muscle, too,” she said. “We’re really achieving a lot of things here.”
Plastic surgeon Heidi Harrington, M.D. (left) and breast oncology surgeon Tara Grahovac, M.D., FACS, work in tandem to consult with mastectomy patients about breast reconstruction.
Healing better, close to home
The addition of Dr. Harrington to the Beaufort Memorial team is a major stride in the expansion of specialized care in the Lowcountry, offering patients innovative, high-quality care right here at home.
Being diagnosed with breast cancer is life-changing, and when a patient has to seek care outside their community, away from their friends, family, and support system, it can be a burden on them.
“You just heal better in your community, surrounded by people who know you and understand you and support you,” Dr. Harrington said. “I’m excited to be able to bring what I do here, because it feels like it was needed.”
Whether it’s the expansion of breast reconstruction options right here in her patients’ backyard or bringing her vast knowledge of and experience with cosmetic procedures, Dr. Harrington said she looks forward to providing individualized care to patients throughout the Lowcountry who hope to achieve confidence-building results, no matter their needs.
Beaufort Memorial Plastic Surgery & Aesthetics is located in Suite 220 of the Beaufort Memorial Okatie Medical Pavilion, 122 Okatie Center Blvd. North, Okatie. To make an appointment with Dr. Harrington, call (843) 707-8020.
