By Kyle LoJacono
St. Joseph’s Hospital-North gave a boost to the healthcare of Lutz, Land O’ Lakes and Odessa when it opened in 2010, and its cardiac catheterization lab is continuing that same mission.
“I don’t know that we had a good understanding of how busy the lab would be when we first opened and what the need would be for this community,” said Dr. Christopher Pastore, medical director at the cath lab. “I think that we were really taken aback by the need this community had for cardiac services.”
The cath lab started doing diagnostics on Feb. 15, 2010. It was able to start doing interventions, such as fixing blockages with stents and angioplasties, on June 1, 2010 after completing 300 diagnoses.
“Since the hospital opened chest pain has been one of the top two presenting complaints in the emergency room,” said Pastore, who has worked in the industry for 20 years. “We did 300 diagnostic caths long before I think anyone anticipated.”
The lab has performed 96 interventions in the last 12 months along with 577 diagnostic caths. It primarily uses caths that go in through the wrist instead of the traditional route through the groin. In fact, 90 percent are done this way.
“I think this has been a major factor in our success of reducing our complication level to an incredible low that I don’t think has been seen in many labs,” Pastore said. He then added, “The chance of bleeding after is much less and the patient’s comfort level is better.”
The lab also has ways to correct a heart that isn’t beating properly, known as electrophysiology
“That’s done where we can put in pacemakers, defibrillators and actually fix rhythm problems with radiofrequency ablation,” Pastore said.
Other diagnostic procedures can be performed at the lab to help decide what kind of intervention should be done, or if medication can relieve the heart problem.
Basically the only thing the lab can’t do in terms of cardiac treatment is open-heart surgery or transplants.
Pastore said the main benefit of the cath lab to the community isn’t just having its services, but increasing the speed with which such procedures can be done on someone suffering heart problems. Facility manager Belinda Manuel, who has worked in the industry for 22 years, put it simply.
“With heart problems, time is muscle,” Manuel said.
Pastore added, “If someone is having a heart attack, the muscle starts dying right away. So you have to get to the hospital, get your diagnosis procedure and get it fixed, and if you can do that fast you can preserve more of the heart muscle and the outcome is better. … If your mother or father was looking for a home in this area you’d feel a lot safer knowing they could get good care quickly if they needed it.”
Pastore said the dead heart muscle becomes a scar, which can result in additional rhythm problems later.
Much like the rest of the hospital, the lab stays away from the traditional sterile-looking white walls with bright lights in favor of more calming surroundings. Patients getting a cath will see murals of beach scenes while also listening to soothing music.
“Our first priority is always to give the highest quality of care that we can,” Pastore said. “If you can do that you’re providing real service. I think our second priority is to achieve the highest level of patient satisfaction we possibly could and to really optimize our patients’ experience with the healthcare industry.”
The facility currently has two cath labs that can perform the same procedures, but was designed in a way to easily add another two as the demand rises. A team is available 24/7, so treatment can always be administered.
“I don’t think the objective the first few years was to blow the top off the capacity of procedures done,” Pastore said. “I think the primary objective was if we’re going to open a cath lab, to do it the right way from the beginning by offering the best care and patient satisfaction. If we can do that, then the sky is the limit in the future.”
For more information on the cath lab, call (813) 443-2046.
