Nazareth Hospital and St. Mary Medical Center announced a new partnership to strengthen regional excellence in cardiovascular care.
St. Mary interventional cardiologists will be available on site at Nazareth to perform emergency cardiac catheterizations as well as scheduled catheterization procedures. Dr. Mrugesh Patel will serve as medical director of Nazareth’s Heart and Vascular Lab.
Experienced cardiologists at the St. Mary catheterization laboratories perform more than 3,000 procedures annually.
“Working together, Nazareth, St. Mary, and the medical cardiologists of Mercy Cardiology will build on Nazareth’s nationally recognized cardiovascular care. Through our partnership with St. Mary, patients have access to a broader and more comprehensive continuum of heart care services,” said Nancy Cherone, executive director of Nazareth.
Interventional cardiologists from St. Mary will work in collaboration with the medical cardiologists at Nazareth to expand and advance treatments for heart disease.
Nazareth Hospital has the technology and processes in place to handle cardiovascular interventions in a catheterization lab.
“We are pleased to work with Nazareth Hospital to expand access to cardiovascular care in the community,” Patel said. “Time is the most important element when you’re treating a heart attack patient, and we will work collectively and collaboratively to have the appropriate protocols and staffing in place to provide the best patient outcomes.”
Although most heart attacks can be treated successfully with catheterization and angioplasty, for some, open-heart surgery is the best option. St. Mary has the surgical capability to provide that option in the event that a patient needs open-heart surgery. Complex intervention cases also can be transferred to St. Mary as needed.
Heart disease remains the leading cause of death for both men and women. About 600,000 people die of heart disease in the United States every year — that’s 1 in every 4 deaths. ••
