Wednesday, January 14, 2004
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Wednesday, January 14, 2004 |
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Hospital seeks to expand heart test capability By JOHN MUNFORD With a significant increase in patients needing cardiac catheterization to diagnose heart problems, Fayette Community Hospital wants permission to provide that service within the county’s borders. Currently, those patients are stabilized at the hospital before being sent to downtown Atlanta to other hospitals. But FCH officials want to provide that service here and have petitioned the state for permission to build a cardiac catheterization lab on-site. “So many folks currently are having to drive to Atlanta,” said Michael Burnett, vice president of clinical services for Fayette Community Hospital. “... We stabilize them for transfer and ultimately it causes a delay for the patients.” The Georgia Department of Community Health will ultimately determine whether Fayette Community can offer a cardiac cath lab. The agency has ruled previously that metro Atlanta has enough cardiac cath labs to handle the area’s needs. Fayette Community Hospital is considered part of the metro Atlanta area by DCH for planning purposes. Fayette Community officials hope to convince the state that it is an inconvenience for patients to drive to Atlanta to undergo a procedure that could be done here. “We think it makes sense,” Burnett said. Although several downtown Atlanta hospitals have cardiac cath labs, they are often quite busy, he added. Hospital officials have projected the cost for such a lab to be $3.76 million. Fayette Community isn’t the only Southside hospital asking for a cardiac cath lab. Newnan Hospital-West has also applied for a cardiac cath lab, and the Department of Community Health has indicated it will rule on both Fayette’s and Newnan’s request at the same time. The cardiac catheterization procedure is a diagnostic test that involves inserting a catheter into an artery that leads to the heart while injecting a chemical marker into the bloodstream. The test allows doctors to look for blockages in vessels feeding the heart as well as damage to the organ, Burnett explained. Depending on the results, the doctor could determine if other procedures are necessary, such as angioplasty or open heart surgery, he added. Sometimes, just a change in diet and the use of medication will help correct cardiac problems, said hospital spokeswoman Ryan Duffy. Fayette Community does not plan to offer any cardiac surgical interventions here, Duffy said. Patients who need open heart surgery, angioplasty and other surgeries would still need to go elsewhere for those procedures, Burnett said. In Fayette’s application to the state, officials cited the growing number of Fayette residents and others the hospital has had to send elsewhere for a service the hospital could ultimately provide. In the four-year period from 1998 to 2002, the number of patients in the hospital’s service area who underwent cardiac catheterization procedures increased by 21 percent, according to hospital figures. Patients at Fayette Community who underwent other non-invasive diagnostic procedures grew from 8,637 in 2000 to more than 14,000 in 2003, officials said. Fayette Community is staffed by six full-time cardiologists who are affiliated with Cardiac Disease Specialists at Piedmont Hospital. Duffy also pointed out that the over-50 age group age group in the area is also increasing dramatically, enhancing the need for the cardiac cath lab. Officials also point out that the hospital offers a variety of other cardiac services including echocardiograms, stress testing and cardiac rehabilitation on site.
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