Grand View Hospital is opening the David M. Flowers, MD, Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory as a full-service cardiac catheterization laboratory. Emergency cardiac care from a team of interventional cardiologists and staff will now be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week (24/7) to treat patients experiencing chest pain and other symptoms related to a heart attack beginning Monday, November 4, 2019. Services offered will include diagnostic imaging, cardiac catheterization, angioplasty and stenting.
Cynthia Westphal, Chief Nursing Officer for Grand View Health says, “With heart attacks, time is muscle which means diagnosis and prompt treatment to reopen blockages is of critical importance to prevent damage to heart muscle. Being able to diagnose and treat a blocked artery right here in Sellersville minimizes the potential for damage and leads to better outcomes.”
The procedure to open a blocked artery is called percutaneous coronary intervention or PCI. Pennsylvania accredits facilities that do not have cardiac surgeons on staff to perform PCI on an emergency basis, according to specific, rigorous guidelines. This includes 24/7 availability of an interventional cardiologist and specially trained staff. The partnership with Lehigh Valley Heart Institute, a national leader in heart attack survival, enables Grand View Hospital to perform percutaneous coronary interventions onsite for the first time since 2016.
“We are pleased to again work with our Grand View Health cardiologists, the interventional cardiology team from Lehigh Valley Health Network and partner with our local EMS providers to offer these life-saving services,” says Doug Hughes, Chief Strategy Officer, Grand View Health. “As Pennsylvania’s first Emergency Department to achieve accreditation as a Geriatric Emergency Department from the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), providing this level of cardiac services is just one more way we can deliver the highest level of care to our community, especially our geriatric patients.”
Partnering with Lehigh Valley Heart Institute
“We are honored to again be partnering with Grand View Health and the surrounding area EMS providers to bring the expertise of the Lehigh Valley Heart Institute medical staff and nursing teams to the residents of Bucks and Montgomery counties,” said Ronald Freudenberger, MD, Physician-in-Chief, Lehigh Valley Heart Institute. “Heart disease is one of the top two causes of death in our region. Our focus is to provide the best access, service and outcomes to patients so they survive and thrive and live their best life.”