No other health concern affects more people in Hunterdon County than cardiovascular disease. It is the County’s leading cause of death and its incidence is on the rise due, in part, to the growing number of area residents between the age of 45 and 64 – a time in life in which the onset of cardiovascular disease is most likely to occur. Hunterdon Medical Center has begun construction on its new Cardiovascular Center. The expansion will centralize all acute care cardiovascular services.
“We are taking cardiac care to a new level. The new cardiovascular center completes the full circle of care by combining advances in 21st century cardiovascular medicine with an extraordinary team of cardiac specialists, all in one location,” explained Robert P. Wise, President and CEO, Hunterdon Healthcare.
The new center will be constructed above the hospital’s existing 3 west wing, which will be directly accessible by elevator from the Emergency Department in order to better accommodate cardiac emergencies.
Construction will include:
· Two new cardiac catheterization labs providing emergency coronary intervention, carotid and peripheral angioplasty;
· Cardiac critical care unit;
· Twenty private patient rooms;
· Expanded space for cardiac imaging and intervention and the creation of specialty clinics in congestive heart failure and stroke; and,
· State-of-the-art cardiopulmonary rehabilitation services.
Hunterdon Healthcare provides a broad range of cardiovascular services under the expert guidance of ten board-certified cardiologists. With timing so critical in heart attack and stroke events, Hunterdon Medical Center’s active and reputable angioplasty program is a great benefit to area residents. National guidelines recommend that heart attack patients receive emergency angioplasty within 90 minutes of arrival to a medical facility. Hunterdon Medical Center significantly exceeds this national standard, leading the way in advancing cardiac care in the community by providing heart attack patients with an average 55-minute “door-to-balloon-time.” This means patients experiencing a heart attack will receive emergency angioplasty within 55 minutes of entering the emergency room.
In 2005, Hunterdon Medical Center became the first community hospital in New Jersey to perform carotid artery stenting for stroke prevention. The interventional cardiologists at Hunterdon Medical Center are specially trained and have the technological expertise to diagnose and treat peripheral artery disease as well, which affects 50% of Hunterdon Medical Center’s cardiac patients.
In addition, the interventional cardiologists perform radial artery catheterizations where blocked arteries are opened and stents are inserted through the patient’s wrist rather than through their groin. At Hunterdon Medical Center, 80% of acute heart attack patients are treated through this approach, placing Hunterdon Medical Center among the top hospitals in the state and nationally as well.
According to Christopher Sickels, Executive Vice President of the Hunterdon Medical Center Foundation and Senior Vice President of Community Affairs, “Although the original set fundraising goal of $15 million has been met and has enabled construction of the cardiovascular center to start, the Hunterdon Medical Center Foundation will continue to raise additional funds over the next two years which will include naming opportunities.” Donations to the cardiovascular project can be made online at www.donatetohunterdonhealthcare.org or by calling 908-788-6141.
Pictured from left to right: Maria Feo, RNC, CTTS, Heart and Vascular Care Coordinator, Robert Cody, M.D., Chairperson, Hunterdon Medical Center Board of Trustees, Glen Tonnessen, M.D., Cardiologist, George Muller, Chairperson, Hunterdon Medical Center Foundation, William Schafranek, M.D., Interventional Cardiologist, Robert Wise, President and CEO, Hunterdon Healthcare, Christopher Sickels, Executive Vice President of the Hunterdon Medical Center Foundation and Senior Vice President of Community Affairs and Debra Porcelli, Vice President of Marketing, Hunterdon Healthcare.