The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

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November 2, 2009

Mount Carmel opens new cardiac unit

By Andra Bryan Stefanoni

news@joplinglobe.com

PITTSBURG, Kan. — Mount Carmel Regional Medical Center’s registered cardiovascular invasive specialist, Wes McDaniel, is himself a heart attack victim — twice.

He knows what patients face during treatment and recovery, and what heart disease is costing the state. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment lists it as the leading cause of death.

“And in particular, the Southeast Kansas area is one of the highest in the state for heart disease,” McDaniel said. “Per capita, heart disease is more prevalent in Crawford, Cherokee, Neosho and Labette counties than any other place in Kansas.”

Daily war

Each day from his downstairs office, he wages a war against the disease, largely through educational means such as outreach programs to create awareness about what it is and what causes it.

Despite McDaniel’s best efforts, cardiac cases at Mount Carmel Regional Medical Center have continued to rise: Personnel treated 2,100 cases last year, and they might top that this year.

Mount Carmel personnel are hoping that this week’s opening of a $2.6 million cardiac unit may help them better treat those cases.

Drew Talbot, vice president of operations, called the unit an investment in the entire region, one that will transform the delivery of health care in the region between Wichita and Joplin, Mo.

Serving need

“In the last three years, our procedure volume indicated we needed specialized inpatient services,” Talbot said. “This is a direct reflection of that need.”

Construction of the unit began in May and was completed last week. The unit on the fifth floor is adjacent to the newly constructed intensive care unit.

Cheryl Craig, director of critical care, said the location will greatly improve response time by ICU staff members if they are needed and will allow the two units to more closely work together.

As crews worked through a punch list in the unit last week, Craig pointed out the features of the 12-room area that boasts better technology, improved patient contact and advances in equipment.

“The most obvious difference for the patients is that the rooms are private, which all of our patients want during recovery time,” she said during a walk-through. “There are also features like large windows for patients to have a view, and an area in each room for the family.”

But it’s the technology and equipment that she said take the unit to a new level. Safety and efficiency will improve with a patient-lift mechanism in each room that will allow personnel to lift and transfer a patient from the bed and in the bathroom.

“We had portable units, but they were awkward to use and underutilized,” Talbot said. “These are built into the rooms, so they are much more efficient for the staff and therefore safer for the patients.”

In addition, nursing stations are located just outside patient rooms, a move designed to improve nursing response time, increase efficiency, and allow patients and their families a greater measure of comfort. New technology will allow the nurses to better monitor specific elements of a patient’s heart health.

Digital data

“We are now using digital data, which essentially means that whomever we give permission can view patient information, real time health information, from anywhere,” Talbot said.

McDaniel said he has worked in prestigious medical institutions in large cities, and he is impressed with the size and scale of such a unit in Pittsburg.

“The services we provide here are second to none — something you’d probably find in a large urban area,” he said. “In most rural settings, you wouldn’t find a hospital this well endowed.”

But McDaniel admitted to wishing himself — and the new cardiac unit — out of a job. “I’d love it if heart disease suddenly went away,” he said.

“But it’s a long process, changing behaviors over generations, and nothing that will magically happen anytime soon. With this new unit, it’s wonderful we can offer such a needed service at this caliber to the people of this area.”

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