Northside Hospital Increases Access to PCI (Angioplasty) Services in
North Metro Atlanta
Effective April 1, Northside Hospital offers Percutaneous Coronary Interventions – PCI (previously called cardiac angioplasty), at each of its hospitals in Atlanta, Forsyth and Cherokee, representing a continued commitment by the hospital to provide increased access to comprehensive cardiovascular services throughout North Metro Atlanta.
When a heart attack occurs, blood supply to the heart muscle is blocked. PCI is a nonsurgical procedure that opens the heart’s arteries using a catheter, with a small balloon attached to its tip. An alternative to coronary bypass surgery, the procedure is performed by a board-certified interventional cardiologist in one of Northside’s state-of-the-art cardiac catheterization laboratories. It can be completed in as little as 30 minutes, often as an outpatient procedure, but usually requires an overnight hospital stay.
Northside Hospital-Forsyth became the first of Northside’s hospitals to offer PCI in March 2010, followed by Northside Hospital-Atlanta in September 2010 and Northside Hospital-Cherokee in April 2011.
“An adult PCI program allows Northside to provide potentially muscle-saving heart services, without having to transfer the patient to another facility,” said Jack Chen, M.D., medical director of cardiology services, Northside Hospital. “Northside is home to many trained professionals, who specialize in comprehensive cardiovascular services.
Until 2008, Georgia CON (Certificate of Need) laws only permitted PCI services in hospitals with on-site open-heart-surgery programs. However, the laws have since changed, permitting any hospital to apply to offer PCI services, provided that the hospital offers diagnostic cardiac catheterization services; that it can demonstrate its compliance with strict criteria, established by Georgia’s Department of Community Health, to offer high-quality PCI services; and that it has specific protocols in place for expedited transfers of patients, in the event that open-heart-surgery capabilities or back-up are needed. The Northside Hospitals meet those criteria.
In addition to PCI, Northside offers a wide range of heart disease prevention and education programs and various cardiac diagnostic services (EKG, digital heart monitoring, exercise testing, nuclear stress testing, echocardiogram, stress echocardiogram, transesophageal echocardiogram), cardiac catheterization, pacemaker implantation, electrical cardioversions, electrophysiological studies, rehabilitation and much more. For patients, who are not candidates for angioplasty, the hospital also offers stenting, where doctors insert the tiny scaffold-like device into the blocked carotid artery to prop it open.
“With the area’s aging population, we recognized a need for growth in our Cardiology Services and have made enhancements to our program to meet the needs in our community,” said Janis Dubow, vice president of quality improvement and chief nursing officer, Northside Hospital. “In addition to adding PCI, we’ve renovated both of our existing Cath Labs on the Atlanta campus, as well as our critical and progressive cardiac care units.”
Click here for more information about cardiology services available at Northside.
