CHI Mercy Health Adds a New Catheter Lab

CHI Mercy Health in Roseburg has added a brand new catheter lab to help meet the growing needs of the community. When the Shaw Heart Center at Mercy decided it was time to update equipment nearing the end of its life in the catheter labs, they didn’t want either of the two labs to be down for a single day. They also saw a need for more space, so they added a brand new catheter lab with all new equipment. A catheter lab is used to address heart and peripheral vascular disease (diseases that affect the blood vessels close to the heart and legs). The catheter lab offers advanced Imaging, diagnostic and interventional procedures. Mercy does not handle valve replacement and open-heart surgeries. In Douglas County, 285.2 people out of 100,000 died of heart disease in 2020 according to Oregon Health Authority. That number is up from the previous three years. It is the second leading cause of death in Oregon and the U.S. With an increasing population, CHI Mercy Health saw a need for updating equipment and adding a new catheter lab. Director of Cardiac Services Connie Kinman said Mercy has had two rooms since 2007 and they handle up to 11 Interventional Procedures in a day. Procedures include placing pacemakers or defibrillators, diagnostic radiology/cardiology procedures and Interventional radiology/cardiology procedures which include the placement of stents that keep the arteries open and optimize blood flow. “Hopefully, it will be easier to schedule procedures with the three labs available when we get them completed. This will increase the efficiency in scheduling procedures in a more timely manner. We continue to recruit an Invasive Cardiologist and Interventional Radiologist so we can continue to offer more services to the community. Mercy is part of Cath/PCI National Database that holds the hospitals nationwide to a 90-minute standard for treating patients who come into the emergency department with active chest pain. Kinman said a handful of times, the staff has had to take a patient that was prepared for a procedure off of the table so they could service an emergency chest pain patient first. With another catheter lab room, this will not happen. Vice President of Support Services David Price said the conversation started about two years ago and they really started working on making it happen about a year ago. They took an old training room and repurposed the space to be a new lab. Now they are in the process of replacing the equipment in one of the old rooms. Mercy works with the state with the facilities plan and safety unit to ensure compliance with the state regulations. “If we simply deactivated equipment and started replacing things, it would have a major impact on access to care for patients,” Price said. “It’s a win for the community because we’re able to accommodate more volume. One of our concerns that we have for the area is that people would have to travel out of the area, and of course, that’s an onerous proposition for anyone, but especially people who may be struggling with a serious health condition. Creating pathways of access for vulnerable population groups is a key aspect of our ministry.” Dr. Amardeep Mann started working in the heart center and the catheter labs in July shortly after the renovations and improvements began. He said the new equipment is better for efficiency, reduces radiation exposure for patients and staff, and makes the job easier, but he would rather not have to use it at all. “I think people should be more focused on prevention,” Mann said. “People’s assumption is that the heart is like a plumbing block, but that’s different than a heart artery block. It’s not so simple to replace the piece. If you prevent the disease, it’s much easier for you, the patient, than to fix it later. What we do is plan B.” There are six cardiologists in the heart center who work in the catheter lab and Kinman said the heart center is recruiting more staff for the lab. The lab is open 24/7 so there is access if someone comes into the hospital needing immediate help in the heart. “I want the cardiac services to continue because I want to retire here, and when I come in and need heart services, I want to know that they’re available,” Kinman said. “We’re a large retirement community and I know if people know we have these services available, it makes you feel better about living here.” So when someone in Douglas County needs their heart checked, the hospital has the resources and staff to provide for patients in an efficient manner and better equipment to help lower the death rate due to heart disease in Douglas County.