Good Samaritan Hospital Launches New Era in Community Health with Primary Angioplasty Services
Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern, NY has launched a primary angioplasty program that will save the lives of scores of Lower Hudson Valley residents having heart attacks. Until this service was launched, there was no interventional cardiology program in New York state west of the Hudson River south of Albany -- a distance of over 130 miles!
Suffern, NY (PRWEB) February 4, 2004 --Good Samaritan Hospital and the Lower Hudson Valley community have entered a new and highly beneficial era in healthcare with the launch of primary angioplasty at the Suffern, New York hospital. The procedure is expected to save the lives of scores of area residents each year.
On October 31, 2003, interventional cardiologists at Good Samaritan Hospital performed the first primary angioplasty procedure at the hospital, within the Atlantic C-PORT study, and with the approval of the New York State Department of Health," reported Michael Schnieders, Executive Vice President and Administrator of Good Samaritan Hospital. In the ensuing 2-plus months, Good Samaritan physicians have performed over 20 procedures on patients experiencing acute myocardial infarction or outright cardiac arrest," continued Schnieders.
Primary angioplasty, sometimes also called emergency angioplasty, is a life-saving procedure designed to open clogged arteries that are impeding proper blood flow to the heart. Interventional cardiologists insert a catheter into one of the patients arteries, and use a balloon-like device at the end of the catheter to relieve a blockage in the artery, opening the arteries to restore blood flow. Angioplasty is commonly performed with stenting, in which the balloon is used to expand a metal sleeve inside the artery, which keeps the artery open and helps to minimize re-blockage.
Until now, area residents having heart attacks had to be first stabilized at Good Samaritan or another local hospital, and then transferred to a facility that could perform the life-saving procedure -- losing valuable time and decreasing the chance for a full recovery. Often times, patients would have to be treated with alternative, sometimes less effective methods, such as drugs called thrombolytics, despite evidence that strongly points out both the effectiveness of interventional cardiac services and the critical need for these services by the people of the Lower Hudson Valley.
Heart disease is the number one killer both nationally and in the Lower Hudson Valley. Heart attacks develop when clogged and clotted arteries impede blood flow to the heart. Heart attacks kill about 460,000 people yearly in the United Sates, according to the National Institutes of Health.
In Rockland County, although the rate of heart disease is actually 2.3% lower than the national average, the age-adjusted mortality rate resulting from chronic heart disease is 10.7% higher than the rest of the country. In Orange and Sullivan Counties, the statistics are even more sobering. Despite an incidence of chronic heart disease that is 0.3% lower than the national average in Orange County, the death rate is 26.8% higher. In Sullivan County, the death rate is 54.8% higher than the national average. These alarming statistics point out that the further you are from a center that performs interventional cardiac procedures, the more likely you are to die from a heart attack.
Yet until now, there were no interventional cardiac programs approved to perform primary angioplasty west of the Hudson River between Albany and the New Jersey state border -- a distance of over 130 miles.
Dr. Richard Cantor, a cardiologist and co-director of Good Samaritan Hospitals cardiac catheterization lab, puts it succinctly, saying, Emergency angioplasty at Good Samaritan will improve cardiac care in The Lower Hudson Valley. This will enable patients with a heart attack to get the current treatment of choice quickly, and improve survival rates."
That sentiment is echoed by Sandi Jeanette, director of the Rockland chapter of the American Heart Association. Cardiac care for area residents is enhanced by Good Samaritan's ability to do emergency angioplasty," said Jeanette. "Now, people can look to Good Sam as a first step if they have chest pains. They don't have to go any further to get the care they need."
Good Samaritan has long had the equipment and physicians on staff to provide coronary angioplasty. The hospital has operated a diagnostic cardiac catheterization laboratory since 1986. A diagnostic catheterization is a minimally invasive test that offers clear, accurate and critical information about the heart and the coronary arteries located on the surface of the heart. Cardiac catheterization differs from angioplasty, which is a therapeutic procedure performed by an interventional cardiologist in order to open up a blocked coronary artery and restore blood flow to the heart muscle Late in 2001, in anticipation of approval to move forward with emergency angioplasty, the hospital invested in a $1.5 million imaging system that allows doctors to detect even the smallest narrowing of an artery.
Last August, Good Samaritan Hospital was among a select group of hospitals chosen to participate in a special study that would allow hospitals with cardiac catheterization services but without cardiac surgery services to provide primary angioplasty, for the purpose of evaluating clinical outcomes and formulating health policy. The Cardiovascular Patient Outcomes Research Team, or C-PORT study, is a prestigious study being conducted out of Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions in Baltimore, Maryland. As part of this study, and with approval granted by the New York State Department of Health, Good Samaritan began performing primary angioplasty procedures.
With the advent of emergency angioplasty at Good Samaritan Hospital, we are now able to better meet a critical healthcare need of the people of Rockland, Orange, Sullivan and surrounding counties," noted Schnieders.
Along with the primary angioplasty program, Good Samaritan Hospital has stepped up its community cardiac outreach services, offering educational materials and seminars, as well as free blood pressure screenings, to better identify those within the community who may be at risk of heart disease. The hospital is committed to lowering the risk of heart attack through education and screenings.
Good Samaritan Hospital is part of the Bon Secours Charity Health System, which also includes St. Anthony Community Hospital in Warwick, NY and Bon Secours Community Hospital in Port Jervis, NY. Additionally, Bon Secours Charity Health System provides the services of a Certified Home Health Agency, two long-term care facilities, an assisted living and adult home facility and several other medical programs. For more information about this or other programs contact John Lonsdorf at the R&J Group at 800-229-1070 or Good Samaritan Hospital at 845-368-5000.
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