This article originally appeared in Connections, a magazine
published for physicians and the community by UMass Memorial Medical
Center.
Great patient care is at the heart of everything at UMass Memorial. Since 2005,
the Medical Center has focused its efforts on providing the most comprehensive
heart and vascular services in Central Massachusetts. These efforts culminated
recently with the opening of a Heart and Vascular Step-down Unit on the
University Campus, the latest piece of the Heart and Vascular Hospital at UMass
Memorial. The "hospital within a hospital" was developed to provide the best
possible care by leveraging the shared expertise of outstanding specialists in
cardiothoracic surgery, vascular surgery, cardiovascular medicine and
imaging.
Significant physical and operational changes, including consolidating
services in a single location and cohorting patients on dedicated cardiac and
vascular units, have helped ensure that when patients are referred to our
center, they receive multiple looks from specialists with a range of
cardiovascular expertise.
"We have seen tremendous results by changing the way we care for heart and
vascular patients," said Robert Phillips, MD, PhD, director of the Heart and
Vascular Center of Excellence and senior vice president at UMass Memorial
Medical Center.
The results are all positive. UMass Memorial was recently named the number
one hospital in Massachusetts for surviving a heart attack and number two in the
nation according to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The Cardiac
Surgery Program at the Medical Center is one of the leading programs of its kind
in the nation based on benchmarks established by the American Society of
Thoracic Surgeons. The Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery performs
comprehensive vascular surgery and minimally invasive endovascular procedures
for the most complex and critically ill patients in the region. And in
interventional cardiology, the door-to-balloon time for ST-elevation myocardial
infarction patients is far better than national standards.
"When we opened the Heart and Vascular Step-down Unit, it solidified our goal
to provide integrated, patient-centered cardiovascular care and to serve as a
forum for education and research in cardiovascular medicine and surgery," said
Dr. Phillips. "With this new component of the Heart and Vascular Hospital,
patients can take comfort in knowing they are receiving care in specific units
from expert staff who specialize in caring strictly for their condition."
The step-down unit provides care for patients who do not require the
intensive level of monitoring and care of the Heart and Vascular ICU. All 18
beds are now open. An in-unit noninvasive diagnostic laboratory is also open.
The Heart and Vascular Hospital also features the 16-bed Heart and Vascular ICU
with eICU capability and a cardiovascular medical/surgical floor. Rounding out
the Heart and Vascular Hospital at UMass Memorial are the general and preventive
heart and vascular services in the Cardiovascular Ambulatory Center, the
region's most state-of-the-art operating rooms, as well as Catheterization and
Electrophysiology Labs.
Louis Messina, MD, chief of the Division of Vascular and Endovascular
Surgery, believes the new facilities, staff and strong research component all
help make UMass Memorial the regional leader for heart and vascular care.
"Dedicating units to care for heart and vascular patients helped us develop an
integrated team to provide the highest standard of care for our patients."
Heart and vascular appointments: 508-334-3452