St. Mary Medical Center recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of the opening of its advanced Heart and Vascular Center.
The four advanced cardiac catheterization labs that make up the center, opened in February 2009 have state-of-the-art procedure rooms and medical technologies.
“Since opening the advanced cath lab, St. Mary has averaged more than 3,000 catheterizations each year, making it one of the busiest and most experienced cardiac catheterization labs in the Greater Philadelphia area,” said Ronald Fields, medical director of St. Mary’s Heart and Vascular Center. “For 10 years, our experienced medical team and advanced technology have helped saved tens of thousands of patients in our region and improve their overall heart and vascular health.”
The most common procedures performed by St. Mary’s advanced team of cardiac interventionists include diagnostic catheterizations, and emergency balloon angioplasties involving both the heart as well as the peripheral circulation in the legs.
According to Fields, St. Mary’s cardiac catheterization team consistently beats the national average for door-to-balloon time, which is the length of time between when a patient enters the emergency department and when the patient receives a balloon angioplasty to restore blood flow. A decade ago, the national average for door-to-balloon time was 96 minutes. Today, most hospitals have improved that average time to about 60 minutes. St. Mary’s average time is less than 53 minutes.
For information about St. Mary Medical Center’s cardiac catheterization lab and the advanced technology it employs, visit
stmaryhealthcare.org/heart.
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