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42 °F Forecast | Road Cams Friday, November 26, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend November 17, 2004 Cardiac-care options increase By BILL KETTLER Mail Tribune Jackson County residents will soon have more choices for fixing an ailing heart. Providence Medford Medical Center on Tuesday announced plans to offer several cardiology services that have been available only at Rogue Valley Medical Center. Physicians at Providence could be opening blocked coronary arteries and repairing damaged blood vessels in the heart as soon as summer 2005. "Our general vision is to grow along with the community," said Chuck Wright, Providence’s chief executive officer for its Southern Oregon service area. "As we grow we see a need for a much stronger cardiac presence at Providence." The Providence plan would make Medford the only Oregon city besides Portland with two hospitals that offer services such as balloon angioplasty and stent placement. Both procedures allow physicians to work on a patient’s heart without opening the chest. Fine wires are inserted into a leg artery to carry a tiny balloon to a blocked artery or a fine-wire mesh "stent" to a weakened blood vessel. The balloon is inflated to open the blockage and then removed. The stent implants itself in the artery wall to strengthen it. Advertisement Providence does not plan to provide general open-heart surgery, which is performed at RVMC. Less invasive procedures have reduced the need for coronary artery bypass surgery, said Dr. Eugene Ogrod, Providence Medford’s chief medical officer. The hospital will spend about $2.5 million to build a second cardiac-catheter laboratory to do diagnostic tests. Providence will recruit at least three cardiologists to work in the new program, Wright said. Sixteen physicians in Medford’s two cardiology groups have declined to participate, citing doubts about the need for a second cardiology program in Jackson County at this time. "Ethically, physicians don’t think it’s in the best interests of patients," said Dr. Kent Dauterman, medical director for cardiology at RVMC. Dauterman said medical research indicates that cardiology programs have better results if they maintain a high volume of patients. He noted that RVMC has won national recognition as one of the top 100 cardiac hospitals in the United States. "One of the reasons it’s been so successful is the concentration of local resources in one cardiac program," he said. "When it comes to risky stuff it’s better to focus on one site where higher volumes mean better results." Wright said Providence needs to expand its cardiac services to meet patient expectations. He noted that 31 percent of Providence patients have some kind of underlying heart condition when they’re admitted to the hospital for another problem. "As our population increases that percentage will increase," he said, noting that retirees from across the United States continue to move to Southern Oregon and bring their medical problems with them. Wright said Providence will draw on its cardiac-care experience at other hospitals in its four-state system to develop the Medford program. Providence Health System operates 19 hospitals in Oregon, Washington, California and Alaska. Wright said Providence needs to offer more comprehensive services to increase patient admissions. The hospital’s volume of cardiac patients has declined 30 percent (from about 1,000 to 700) in the two years since both hospitals agreed to send patients with major heart-attack symptoms directly to RVMC, the region’s only source for open-heart surgery. That program has saved lives, but not all of the patients need emergency surgery. However, many of them end up staying at RVMC for treatment. "If we don’t do something now (to increase admissions), it could diminish all our services," Wright said. "We’re dealing with basic services for the viability of the institution," Ogrod said. "If you don’t take care of cardiac disease, you’re not a viable institution." Population growth may well provide ample volume for two cardiology programs, said Kristy Wayson, administrator of cardiac care programs for several hospitals in the Providence system. "Everybody wants to retire here," Wayson said. "I don’t think you can anticipate the wild card (effect) of the senior population." Changes in medical technology will encourage other hospitals to expand their cardiac-care services, too, said John Jackson, chief executive of Providence Medical Group (local physicians who work for Providence Health System). "Having two hospitals (in one community) that provide these services will not be uncommon," he said. "This is part of an expanding continuum of basic services." Reach reporter Bill Kettler at 776-4492, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. 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