Medical staff and officials with Adventist Health/Rideout Hospital in Marysville gave a tour of its newly renovated operating room and existing cardiac catheterization lab – or cath lab – on Tuesday to discuss the need for equipment upgrades and their impact on patient care.
Those joining the tour were able to view operating rooms and labs in their current state as well as a “cath lab shell,” where an upgraded system will be installed.
Cath labs are specialized areas in a hospital where doctors perform minimally invasive tests and advanced procedures to diagnose and treat cardiovascular disease. Procedures include placing a stent to resolve a blockage in the heart or implanting a pacemaker.
Director of Cardiovascular Services Eric Cooper said that the cath lab is equipped with three rooms that are regularly used to carry out procedures, one of which is dedicated to peripheral vascular disease and electrophysiology. This room is also a hybrid space where surgical procedures can take place, if necessary, Cooper said. The remaining rooms are dedicated to cardiology, diagnostic and interventional cardiology.
A fourth room is also underway to maintain the hospital’s capacity for cardiovascular care, while other cath lab rooms receive needed renovations due to their age and outdated equipment. According to Cooper, it takes six to 10 months to get a new cath lab room built, and to prevent additional wait times amid renovations, installing a fourth room will ensure that at least three are always available.
“Our fourth room that we are trying to get built, that room is needed because we’re going to go down one by one because of the age of (the other rooms),” Cooper said. “Does anybody have a cell phone from 2009? Would you depend on that cell phone if you’re in a life or death situation? … That’s what we’re dealing with when we deal with electronic equipment from that age and legacy period. … We cannot afford to not upgrade.”
Cooper maintained that while hospital staff are able to safely perform procedures with their current equipment, upgrading the cath lab will ensure optimal patient care. New equipment will also use less radiation, reducing the need for employees to wear heavy, leaded aprons and covers while working.
“We want our physicians and our team to be able to say, ‘There’s the issue. That’s what we need to do,’ with no guesswork involved. Sometimes when we are doing these procedures, they’re still being done safely, but they’re not at the optimal level that they could be,” Cooper said. “As we look at these advantages, we must upgrade these areas. That’s why there’s a push now: safety, patient safety, expansion, doing the kind of technical things we need to do for this period.”
Perioperative Clinical Manager Larry Santiago continued the tour of the hospital’s newly renovated operating room and discussed planned upgrades for the remaining rooms. According to Santiago, updated operating rooms will include new entry systems, better lighting and 4K camera capabilities.
The new operating room – primarily used for bariatric surgery – features all of these, conserving space and offering more convenience to medical staff during a procedure, Santiago said.
“Gas, the brightness, taking pictures: the nurses have to go to a tower and push the buttons. This technology allows the surgeon the freedom to shoot right where he needs to. Gas will never run out. We see things in a more high-definition form,” he said.
According to Patience Boudreaux, philanthropy executive for the Rideout Foundation, the annual Fairway to Health Golf Tournament on Friday will help raise funds to support cath lab renovations and expansions.
“When we finish this space, that gives us the breathing room to take one of the others offline. Then we can renovate and improve that space,” Boudreaux said. “It’s going to improve our ability to serve the community.”
The first phase of this project is estimated at $3.4 million, and the fundraiser’s goal of $8 million will contribute to the total cost for the cath lab renovation and buildout, Adventist Health/Rideout Marketing and Communications Manager Nick Woodard said. Aside from community donations, the hospital will also seek federal funds and other sources.
Cooper anticipates the cath lab project to be completed by 2025 with architects commencing renovations by the third quarter of this year.
