Waterbury Hospital stands to benefit

I have been an employee of Waterbury Hospital for 33 years, and I am proud to say that Waterbury Hospital is my home. The last five years of my career I have been working in the cardiac catheterization laboratory, and I feel blessed to be part of such a wonderful team. During my time in the cath lab, I have seen major growth. We have a state-ofthe-art hybrid operating room, which allows us to provide sophisticated, cardiac services for our patients. In the past two years we introduced TAVR (transaortic valve replacement), a non-surgical valve replacement procedure with great success. Currently we are working on introducing the WATCHMAN implant, a one-time minimally invasive procedure for people with atrial fibrillation not caused by a heart valve problem who need an alternative to blood thinners. In addition, Waterbury Hospital has won multiple national quality awards for interventional cardiac care.

Waterbury Hospital is an asset to this community. I have had surgery myself and my family has had multiple admissions here. I would send any of my friends or family members to Waterbury Hospital because the standard of care provided to patients is top notch. I am happy with the care all my Waterbury Health Network colleagues provide patients.

I am so excited about the transition to Yale New Haven Health. This will expand on the sophisticated and life-saving services we offer our patients. This affiliation is great for all patients, including members of my family who have lived in the Waterbury area for generations.

We are looking forward to a bright future.

Luci Porter

The writer is registered nurse in the Waterbury Hospital Cardiac Cath Lab.