The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Fisher-Titus Medical Center announces new heart and vascular capabilities
Fisher-Titus Heart and Vascular Center expanded its level of cardiac care this week for area patients, according to Dr. Brent W. Burkey, president of the medical center.
“For the first time since the Snyder/White Heart and Vascular Center opened in 2008, our patients can have interventional heart catheterizations, including balloon angioplasty and stent placement at FisherTitus,” Burkey said. “We are very pleased to introduce this level of care to our patients so they can stay close to home instead of being referred to another facility for this type of care.”
Fisher-Titus now is certified by the Ohio Department of Health as a Level II adult cardiac catheterization laboratory allowing for diagnostic and interventional procedures.
Prior to the certification, only diagnostic catheterizations could be performed at Fisher-Titus, Burkey said.
If a condition was found during a diagnostic procedure requiring intervention, the patient would be transferred to another facility for treatment, he said.
With the new Level II certification, complications of heart disease can be addressed onsite with coronary balloon angioplasty and stenting on an emergency or elective basis.
“We are very pleased that our highly trained intervention cardiologists, Dr. Gabby Aoun and Dr. Juan Weksler, are utilizing our high-tech heart and vascular procedure labs to perform diagnostic and interventional cardiac catheterizations,” Burkey said.
The new capabilities allow for the immediate treatment of STEMI. STEMI is a common name for ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction which is a type of heart attack.
STEMI is caused by a prolonged period of blocked blood supply affecting a large area of the heart. STEMI has a substantial risk of death and disability and calls for a quick response.
Aoun and Weksler joined Fisher-Titus in November as the first Fisher-Titus employed cardiologists since the Heart & Vascular Center opened in 2008.
Prior to that, physicians were provided through various partnerships with other health care organizations.