Facility News for December 2007

Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center Celebrates Opening of Newly Renovated Cardiac Catheterization Lab Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center (PBGMC) in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, recently celebrated the opening of its newly renovated cardiac catheterization lab. The Chamber of Commerce of the Northern Palm Beaches performed an official ribbon cutting, attended by physicians, administrators and cath lab staff. The new state-of-the-art cath lab has the ability to perform cardiac catheterizations and peripheral angiograms, as well as imaging of the carotid arteries. The lab allows physicians to utilize intravascular ultrasound and also displays CT scans and MRA. In addition, the new cath lab has a flat panel x-ray detector. The addition of the new equipment will set Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center above the rest in the field with the newest technology currently available, said Nathan Davis, director of the cath lab. It allows for a greater variety of procedures to be performed simultaneously in the department. For nearly 25 years, PBGMC has provided all-inclusive programs and services dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular conditions. Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center is a 199-bed acute-care medical and surgical facility serving the health care needs of Northern Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast for more than 39 years. For more information, visit the web site at www.pbgmc.com. North Hills Hospital in Texas Opens New Heart Center When Kirk Taylor came to North Hills Hospital’s Chest Pain Center in North Richland Hills, Texas, with a heart attack, his door-to-balloon time was 38 minutes. For Frances Poteet’s heart attack, she clocked in at 31 minutes. Chad Kelner was treated in 29. The national gold standard for heart attack treatment is 90 minutes. North Hills Hospital’s median time for last quarter was 49. North Hills Hospital was the first hospital in the United States to achieve Cycle 2 Accreditation for its Chest Pain Center. Now, the hospital has something new to offer its heart patients. A new Heart Center opened on November 12, which includes two cardiac operating rooms, 13 cardiac progressive care (CV-PCU) beds, and eight cardiac intensive care (CV-ICU) beds. It’s the completion of a two year, $33 million expansion project that also added two new floors and a brand-new Women’s Center to the hospital. The Heart Center is unique because the operating rooms, CV-PCU and CV-ICU are all housed on the same unit. A patient can transition from different levels of care without ever leaving the unit, and families don’t have to move around the hospital. Having the departments in close proximity also improves communication among care providers and allows the nurses to transition with a patient between levels of care. The new Heart Center will serve as an extension of the hospital’s nationally recognized Chest Pain Center. A private elevator with dual access to the emergency room and the cardiac catheterization lab will connect to the new second floor unit, allowing for faster and smoother transitions between departments. The Heart Center was designed with input from cardiologists and nurses. Features such as better storage, lighting and floor layout were designed to save nurses time and increase efficiency. Satellite nurse stations are located outside each patient CV-ICU room. Because of an emphasis on improved communication, each nurse will carry a phone so that physicians can call them directly. Another unique feature for nurses will be the cardiothoracic video monitor for nurse observation and education. The monitor will provide a live feed from the two operating rooms, which will allow the patient’s nurse to watch his or her surgery, giving the nurse valuable insight into the patient’s care. All equipment in the two cardiac operating rooms has been upgraded, from the cardiac monitoring systems to the ventilators, patient beds, and balloon pumps. The unit will also house a new centralized telemetry monitoring system for the entire hospital. The unit was not only designed to make things more efficient for care providers, but also to make things more comfortable for families of patients. The Heart Center will have a larger, more comfortable waiting room for family members, with a private consultation room for discussions with physicians. The cardiac ICU rooms are larger and more spacious, with recliners for family members who choose to stay overnight. To make it easier for families to identify their nurse, each nurse will have his or her picture and name posted in the patient’s room. The Heart Center at Nationwide Children’s Hospital Opens First Hybrid Congenital Cardiac Operating Suite in U.S. The innovative spirit of the cardiothoracic surgery and interventional cardiology teams in The Heart Center at Nationwide Children’s Hospital have come together again to bring technology first developed in its hybrid catheterization suites to a state-of-the-art operating suite the first hybrid congenital cardiac operating suite in the U.S. This operating suite is designed specifically around the cardiac surgeon and cardiac surgical patient, offering new advanced access and imaging in an operating room environment. The suite accommodates the collective catheterization and surgery team, and facilitates rapid information sharing with new technology from Toshiba Medical Systems and Maquet Surgical Workplaces. The hybrid congenital cardiac operating suite features: More than 900 square feet of working space to accommodate the team involved in a hybrid case (surgeons, interventional cardiologists, electrophysiologists, echocardiographers, cardiac anesthesiologists, advanced level nurse practitioners, physicians’ assistants, cath/OR nurses, technologists and perfusionists). A surgical theater with a fixed base surgical table, modutec booms and surgical lighting. Flat panel detectors (FPD) Technical capabilities that allow staff members the ability to transmit information anywhere in the suite, at remote sites within the hospital, or even to countries around the world, enabling Nationwide Children’s Heart Center faculty to consult with physicians in distant countries and to serve as a teaching hospital. Nine interconnected, flat panel, high-resolution display screens for superior visualization and better information exchange among the team members; at least two monitors are visible to all team members at any time, from any location. A non-sterile control/observation room to serve as an educational and training resource for students, staff and faculty. The hybrid congenital cardiac operating suite can accommodate any cardiac surgical case, catheterization or collaborative hybrid procedure. Cardiothoracic surgeons and interventional cardiologists working together in this suite will reduce the amount of time required to correct a heart problem and the amount of emotional and physical stress placed on a patient or their family which translates into less pain, less scarring and a faster recovery time for patients. The Nationwide Children’s Hospital Heart Center was established in 2002 when all Cardiology and Cardiothoracic Surgery services were consolidated into a comprehensive one-stop model of patient/family convenience and excellence in patient care, education and research. The Heart Center opened the nation’s first hybrid cardiac catheterization suites in 2004, whereby the benefits of cardiothoracic surgery and interventional cardiology were combined in two suites to help critically ill children and adults with congenital heart disease achieve improved therapeutic outcomes. These facilities harness state-of-the-art technology that allows surgeons and interventionalists to collaboratively perform a wide range of innovative hybrid procedures. In 2005, the existing imaging equipment in these suites was replaced by the world’s first 5 axis biplane positioner with flat panel detector imaging, permitting surgeons and interventionalists to view images more clearly, as well as to improve access to patients. Congenital heart defects are present in about one percent of live births. The first procedure performed in the hybrid congenital cardiac operating suite occurred in November 2007 and the first procedure in the hybrid cardiac catheterization suites took place in May 2004. Both procedures were conducted to treat hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Send your facility news to managing editor Rebecca Kapur at cathlabdigest@aol.com.

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