By JEFF LIPTON
When the new five-story north wing was completed, the E Wing housing the medical and surgical patient unit and the H Wing accommodating the mental health patient unit were vacated, making room for a new center for interventional cardiology services, hospital officials said. In the vacated wing, work has begun on two new cardiac catheterization labs, which will be high-tech to keep pace with patient needs.
Hospital officials were expecting to move as many as 178 patients into the 170,000-square-foot north wing addition. During the one-day transfer, cardiac patients were taken off their monitors in their rooms and hooked up to mobile, battery-powered monitors to facilitate their transport to the new wing, where they were placed on state-of-the-art wireless monitors. Patients who recently had surgery were moved to the north wing¹s first-floor, 36-bed post-surgical unit, and mothers and their newborns traveled together in wheelchairs to the 36-bed maternity unit on the third floor.
South Nassau¹s cardiac initiative began in October with the launch of its elective coronary angioplasty program. South Nassau successfully performed its first elective angioplasty on Oct. 16. During the following five weeks, doctors at the hospital performed more than 40 elective angioplasty procedures and more than 175 cardiac catheterization procedures, hospital officials said.
Angioplasty is used to unblock clogged arteries in the heart and often makes invasive procedures, such as open-heart surgery, unnecessary. In July, South Nassau was selected by the New York State Department of Health to participate in a statewide pilot program that allows selected hospitals without open-heart surgical programs to perform elective angioplasty. It¹s the only community hospital in Nassau County ‹ and one of only five in New York State ‹ to be permitted to perform angioplasty on an elective or non-emergency basis.
³If a resident on the South Shore of Nassau County is having a mild heart attack, they don¹t have to go far,² said Damian Becker, South Nassau¹s senior external affairs associate. ³They can go to South Nassau [for this kind of cardiac care].²
When all phases of construction are completed, officials said, South Nassau will feature three cardiac catheterization labs, an electrophysiology lab and a minor procedure (implant) room; about 20 preparation/recovery spaces, decentralized nursing stations, doctors¹ offices, exam rooms, waiting areas, reception/registration areas, staff changing/locker areas, conference rooms and other support service spaces.
As part of South Nassau¹s cardiac initiative, the old maternity wing has been completely renovated and updated as part of the launch of the elective coronary angioplasty program. Follow-up plans call for construction of two additional cardiac catheterization labs, a 12-bed preparation/recovery spaces and independent nursing station, doctors¹ offices, exam rooms, waiting areas, reception/registration areas, staff changing/locker areas, conference rooms and other support service spaces.
³It¹s a major plan,² said Becker, adding that the project is expected to be completed next fall or early December. ³There will be a dedicated floor of beds for cardiology patients.²
The expansion and renovation of the hospital in preparation for the upgraded cardiac services began around mid-January, Becker said.
South Nassau added onto its cardiac care resume when the New York State Department of Health, in its report on patient outcomes in cardiac surgery and interventions, recently awarded the hospital¹s director of interventional cardiology, Dr. Jason Freeman, with its highest ranking of double asterisk status for his success rate in angioplasty.
The prestigious double asterisk is awarded to physicians who have achieved significantly less complications and mortality rates than the state average. The data indicate that Dr. Freeman, a specialist in both coronary and peripheral interventional procedures, had significantly lower patient mortality rates between 2002-04 than the state average for percutaneous coronary interventions or angioplasty. During this period, Dr. Freeman performed 1,138 angioplasties.
³With Dr. Freeman¹s expertise, we expect to help many of [our] neighbors in the communities we serve with this lifesaving procedure,² said Dr. Akram Boutros, executive vice president and chief medical officer at South Nassau.
Dr. Freeman, who completed his 100th and 101st elective angioplasty at South Nassau on Feb. 21, said with all the recent changes at the hospital, including the new catheterization labs, he expects it to become the leading cardiac care medical facility on the South Shore of Nassau County.
³Based on our good track record and the need in the community for cardiac services, we got permission from New York state to do elective angioplasty, which is a large advantage for our patients,² Dr. Freeman said.
Before the elective procedure was permitted at the hospital, ³patients would have to travel to the North Shore of Long Island, where they don¹t know the doctors, they are not familiar with the area and their family and friends would have to travel there, too, which was a tremendous inconvenience.²
³We can give you excellent service right here, in our brand-new cardiology suite,² Dr. Freeman said.
In the first year, with the new facilities, he projects he will perform about 400 angioplasties and care for about 1,200 patients in the catheterization labs.
³We are able to perform the best cardiac care services on the South Shore of Nassau County,² Dr. Freeman said. ³They will not be transferred out to some foreign place, because now they could get these services in their own neighborhood.²
He said the new cardiac suite at the hospital could possibly even open sooner than originally projected, around the end of summer or early fall.
³The number of people in danger of suffering fatal or severe heart attacks due to clogged arteries is increasing daily at an epidemic rate in Nassau County,² said Joseph A. Quagliata, president and CEO of South Nassau. ³In the event you, a loved one or friend need angioplasty, it can be performed on the spot at South Nassau, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Our patients will be treated by a team of experienced interventional cardiologists that has successfully performed thousands of angioplasties who use the most advanced techniques and medical technologies to perform angioplasty.
³As with the other advanced health care services we have introduced, we are confident that we will be a destination for coronary angioplasty for those who need it and that the experience of our patients in terms of safety, outcome, comfort and convenience will be unrivaled,² he added.
Comments about this story? Jlipton@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 210.
