New Heart Network Serves the Community.
The hospital has offered a broad range of cardiac services, including diagnostic cardiac catheterization for many years. In partnership with Albert Einstein Health Network, the hospital's interventional cardiologists perform therapeutic cardiac procedures at its Norristown location under a program authorized by the state Department of Health. Only a handful of hospitals within the state have been similarly approved to provide such services without on-site open-heart surgical facilities.
The program is a result of recent studies by the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association, which recognize that coronary angioplasty and coronary stenting can safely be performed in hospitals that do not have on-site open-heart surgery. Studies have also indicated that patient outcomes can be improved when interventions are not delayed by transport to hospitals away from the patient's immediate area of residence.
"The hospital's therapeutic cardiac catheterization program allows patients to be treated by the finest board-certified interventional cardiologists in the region, without leaving their neighborhood," says Pat Modafferi, vice president. "In the event of an emergency, this lab plays a significant role in saving lives."
An important feature of the program is an agreement with Lower Providence Ambulance Company that has made possible a stand-by transport service, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Patients who require open-heart surgery can be transported to Einstein by the ambulance service; experienced medical professionals, including cardiac catheterization nurse specialists staff the ambulance. Patients also may be transferred to other hospitals of their choice.
|
