Catholic Health Services Launches St. Francis Heart Center

ROCKVILLE CENTRE, NY — Residents along Nassau County’s south shore will now have access to more vital cardiovascular procedures after Catholic Health Services announced on Wednesday that it is launching the St. Francis Heart Center as an extension of medical offerings it provides its patients.

Mercy Medical Center has been recognized as one of the top medical facilities in the country, according to U.S. News and World Report and is driven by a team of world-renowned interventional cardiologists. The St. Francis Heart Center will provide local residents with access to lifesaving procedures such as percutaneous coronary intervention, which uses a catheter to place a stent to open the heart’s blood vessels that have been narrowed by plaque build-up, hospital officials said.

As part of the extension of the hospital's Heart Center services, the facility will also enhance its existing diagnostic catheterization program by offering immediate cardiac care to patients who present at the hospital with a heart attack or other significant cardiac issue, according to a news release issued Wednesday.

St. Francis Heart Center doctors will have the ability to perform an intervention to open the artery through a stenting procedure when disease is discovered during a diagnostic catheterization, officials announced. The capability to restore blood flow and save the heart muscle for patients within 90 minutes is critical, the hospital said.

“Launching St. Francis Heart Center at Mercy expands access to our renowned cardiac care that consists of top-ranked physicians and medical teams,” St. Francis Hospital President Dr. Charles L. Lucore said in the news release. “Expanding our nationally ranked cardiac programs further enhances our vision of providing exceptional patient care, in the communities we serve.”

According to the release, the St. Francis Heart Center at Mercy team will be backed by the St. Francis Hospital cardiothoracic surgeons, anesthesiologists, perfusionists and others who have expertise in all types of heart surgery. This includes coronary artery bypass surgery to the newest, minimally invasive valve procedures, including surgical techniques designed to treat certain cardiac arrhythmias, or irregular heart rhythms, the hospital announced.

The expanded St. Francis Heart Center cardiac services at Mercy joins St. Francis Heart Center at Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip. St. Francis Heart Center will be further expanded to offer cardiac services at St. Joseph Hospital in Bethpage in 2021, with the opening of a new cardiac catheterization lab, hospital officials indicated on Wednesday.

“Timely diagnosis and treatment of patients experiencing heart problems is vital to successful outcomes,” Dr. Richard Shlofmitz, St. Francis Hospital chairman of cardiology said in the news release. “St. Francis Heart Center at Mercy puts the quality of St. Francis Hospital closer to home for a large number of residents who will now have quick and easy access to exceptional cardiac care that will save lives.”