Hillcrest Hospital Opens New Cath Lab

A grand opening took place this week for a new $1.7 million cardiac catherization room at .

Dr. Vladimir Vekstein, medical director of the cath lab, said the state-of-the-art Philips imaging equipment will enable staff to make better, quicker diagnoses.

"The image quality is amazing," Vekstein said. He added that doctors will able to more clearly see if stents are deployed properly to open blockages and increase blood flow.

"The better they can see, the better the decisions," added Paul Kadas, cath lab manager.

While the cath lab's equipment is basically the same as what's been used, the upgrade to new models will make a difference in treating patients. "It's basically like getting a new car. Ten years later the features are more updated," Vekstein said.

That will help patients because they can ingest less dye when diagnostic imaging equipment is used. "There is a danger to the kidneys with the dye. This allows us to minimize that risk. We also don't need to take as many views," Vekstein said.

Medical personnel also can pull up old videos to compare a patient's current condition to what their arteries looked like on previous visits.

"That did not exist 10 years ago," Vekstein said.

Daniel Sutton, regional vice president of Cardiology Services, was excited about the uninterrupted power supply equipment that will allow a steady flow of electricity when the power goes out and backup generators kick in.

"There's a delay of five to 10 seconds. We might have a patient with a catheter or a stent. This UPS system bridges that gap," he said. "Every time we do one of these rooms we have to kick it up a notch and add some capability."

The new room should also help with the Code Crimson program – the hospital's commitment to meet benchmarks for care of heart attack patients. Vekstein said when patients have arteries that are 100 percent blocked, the goal is to have them open within 90 minutes.

Last year, Hillcrest Hospital met that standard in every case. "Our median time was 55 minutes," Vekstein said.

Paramedics can send electrocardiogram (ECG) readouts from rescue squads, allowing hospital staff to confirm the diagnosis quickly and treat patients.

"Sometimes we're ready before the patient arrives," Vekstein said. "Our goal is to have an ECG within 5 minutes of arrival for anyone who comes in with chest pain. The commitment of so many people at the hospital has been tremendous."