Upper Allegheny Health

4 ADVANCES IN CARE Doubling Our Efforts for Heart Care Olean General Hospital is dedicated to providing residents of Southwestern New York and Northwestern Pennsylvania the highest quality of heart care. This year, we've made headway in two distinct areas. Helping Hearts, Here at Home In early October, a new interventional cardiac catheterization laboratory opened at Olean General Hospital. The laboratory is operated in conjunction with Kaleida Health's Gates Vascular Institute, Upstate New York's largest provider of cardiac services. "Interventional cardiac catheterization is one the most significant patient care advancements in our region in many years. With heart attacks and cardiac emergencies, time is muscle. The ability to perform critical cardiac interventions any time of the day or night locally will alleviate the need to transfer patients to distant medical centers for these services and will save lives." —Timothy J. Finan, President and CEO of Upper Allegheny Health System Heart disease remains the No. 1 cause of death in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cardiac catheterizations are utilized to check blood flow in the coronary arteries. They are also utilized to determine how well the valves of the heart work and to check for defects in the way the wall of the heart moves. Interventions, like angioplasty and stent placement, can be performed if blockages or other problems are detected. During cardiac catheterization, a long thin tube called a catheter is inserted in an artery or vein in a patient's groin or arm and threaded through blood vessels to the heart. Interventional cardiologists are then able to perform diagnostic tests and treatments as indicated. The interventional cardiac catheterization laboratory is the only one of its kind in Southwestern New York State and will operate 24/7/365. The laboratory is directed by two board-certified interventional cardiologists: Gary Maur, M.D., and Christopher Mallavarapu, M.D. VISIT WWW.OGH.ORG/HEART FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT OLEAN GENERAL HOSPITAL'S INTERVENTIONAL CARDIAC CATHETERIZATION LABORATORY.

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