Heart Care

HSHS St. Mary’s Hospital Medical Center’s cardiology capabilities include a wide range of inpatient and outpatient services designed to better serve the community.

This integrated approach provides patients with continuity of care, ranging from diagnosis through treatment and rehabilitation. With hospitalist physicians on duty 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, St. Mary’s offers a full range of cardiac services with the exception of open-heart surgery.

The St. Mary’s inpatient and outpatient departments work collaboratively with the ancillary services to provide care for all Cardiac Services patients.
 

Inpatient services

  • Cardiac catheterization patients receive care in the Outpatient Nursing Center.
  • Angioplasty stent patients are admitted to the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit for six hours, then to a general patient room for an overnight stay.
  • Acute Coronary Syndrome patients receive care in both the ICU and the medical floor.
  • Multi-disciplinary approach to recovery includes Cardiac Rehabilitation, Nutrition, Physical Therapy, Social Services and General Medical departments of the hospital.

 

Outpatient services

The Cardiac/Vascular Rehabilitation Department works with patients to educate and reinforce healthy lifestyles, and to provide a central location for them to follow their rehab programs.

  • After discharge from any area medical facility, patients with a physician referral can utilize the department for supervised exercise, education and support during their rehabilitation.
  • Patients with no history of cardiac issues, but with possible risk factors, can utilize the department’s services for health maintenance goals with a physician referral.
  • Patients with arterial disease outside of the heart can be referred to the department for a more systematic approach to exercise, based on specific protocols and education.
  • Pulmonary Rehab program offers slow-moving exercise and education designed for patients with lung conditions.

 

Cardiac diagnostic capabilities

St. Mary’s offers a wide range of advanced technology to provide physicians with the tools they need to make fast and accurate diagnoses.
 

Calcium scoring

It’s a powerful way to spot the early stages of heart disease while there’s still time to stop it. Heart calcium scoring can detect years of plaque buildup long before you have symptoms of heart disease. Read more about Heart Calcium Scoring.

Nuclear Medicine

Usually coordinated with stress testing, this heavily utilized cardiac tool provides imaging of the functioning heart. Generally one of the first diagnostic tools used for patients with chest pain, or episodes of dizziness or shortness of breath, it may provide an indication of the need for interventional work.
 

Stress testing

Often utilized in tandem with other tests, this physical exertion of the heart provides physicians with more of the information they need for diagnosing cardiac issues. For those patients unable to physically increase their energy output for testing purposes, pharmacological agents can be used to produce the same effect.
 

Echocardiography

This noninvasive tool uses ultrasound technology to view the heart and the blood flow through its chambers. Additional testing capabilities are available in combination with other technologies.

 

Additional tools

Patients who experience occasional period of irregular heartbeats can be fitted with a portable monitor that can be worn home in an attempt to capture an episode on an EKG graph.
 

Catheterization lab

St. Mary’s state-of-the-art cardiac catherization lab opened in 1999 and has become a highly utilized facility. Over 3000 procedures have been performed since its opening. In addition, elective and emergency angioplasties have been offered to the public since early in 2001, and pacemaker implants are common procedures.

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