MDNews - Mid Hudson

Cover Feature Mohan r. Sarabu, MD, FaCS, FaCC, Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery, performing open-heart surgery An All-Star Team Approach to Cardiac Care at Vassar Brothers Medical Center AT VA S S A R B R o T h e R S C ent er, a Health Quest hospital, specialists in cardiology and cardiac surgery unite to provide surgical and noninvasive treatment options to patients of all ages. Acknowledging the hospital's superior outcomes, Healthgrades has awarded Vassar Brothers Medical Center its Cardiac Care Excellence Award. The hospital has ranked among the top 5 percent in the nation for overall cardiac services for three consecutive years (2011–13), is the recipient of Healthgrades' Cardiac Surgery Excellence Award for six consecutive years (2008–13) and has ranked among the top 5 percent in the nation for cardiac surgery for five consecutive years (2009–13). Daniel O'Dea, MD, FACC, Chief of 6 | Mid Hudson MD News meDICAl ■ mDNeWS.Com Cardiology at Vassar Brothers Medical Center and President of the Heart Center in Poughkeepsie, NY, says these honors are a source of pride for Health Quest physicians and each provider strives to maintain award-winning standards of care. "We work hard to achieve this recognition," Dr. O'Dea says. "It takes a tremendous amount of institutional pride and a high level of diligence on the part of the physicians and staff involved. Each provider has to want to do the right thing for each patient and sustain that drive. To use a gardening metaphor, it takes a bit of watering to ensure the gains we've achieved grow rather than wilt." Wireless, In-Transit Communication One of the seeds sown in the hospital's cardiac program is faster delivery of care brought about by technology investments. Among the more innovative technological additions to Vassar Brothers Medical Center's cardiac treatment battery is a device used before patients even set foot on its premises. Equipped on local ambulances, AirStrip ONE Cardiology is a wireless system that allows emergency medical technicians (EMTs) to send electrocardiogram (EKG) readings to the emergency room from the field. Previously, EKG readings were available only at patients' bedsides, so specialists tasked with performing balloon angioplasty had to wait until after patients were delivered to the hospital to obtain the results and accordingly prepare for the procedure. "From wherever EMTs take care of patients — in the field or in the PHotoS © Don DeMPSey, WHite LigHt PHotograPHy Through sophisTicaTed Technology, a Team approach To care and a new model cenTered on uniform adopTion of besT pracTices To enhance overall ouTcomes, cardiac specialisTs aT vassar broThers medical cenTer provide comprehensive cardiac services To paTienTs ThroughouT The hudson valley.

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