Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/288786
F OR YEARS, PATIENTS needing cardiac surger y have sought t reat ment f rom St. Fra ncis Hospita l 's ca rdiac surgeons because of their experience — in the last 10 years, more than 16,000 open-heart procedures have been performed there. But for Suffolk County residents, the travel requirement involved in receiving care at the Roslyn hospital can make a difficult situation even more trying. "There's nothing worse for family members than having a loved one in the hospital for open-heart surger y and needing to arrange visits between work and trying to bring children to any of their countless activities," says DEMONSTRATING ITS COMMITMENT TO BRINGING THE HIGHEST STANDARDS OF CARDIAC SURGICAL CARE TO SUFFOLK COUNTY, GOOD SAMARITAN HOSPITAL HAS ESTABLISHED A NEW OPEN-HEART SURGERY PROGRAM LED BY EXPERTS FROM ST. FRANCIS HOSPITAL, THE HEART CENTER. Christopher La Mendola, MD, FACS, FACC, Chair of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Director of the St. Francis Open Heart Surgery Program at Good Samaritan Hospital. "Good Samaritan Hospital realized this and forged a relationship with St. Francis Hospital to bring world-class cardiac surgical care to Suffolk County." Approximately five years ago, the process to bring the open-heart surgery program to Good Samaritan Hospital bega n. Dr. La Mendola notes t hat both institutions were committed to meticulously and deliberately construct- ing an open-heart surger y program in Suffolk County that brought every component of the expertise and spirit of St. Francis Hospital's program to Good Samaritan Hospital. "In this day and age, many mergers or acquisitions change little but the name of the institution," Dr. La Mendola explains. "That's something we were ad a ma nt ly opposed to. We d id n't want this to be a marketing ploy — we wanted to make this St. Francis Hospital-caliber cardiac surgery at Good Samaritan Hospital." So, an extensive renovation process began to outfit operating rooms with the most leading-edge technology avail- able for open-heart surgery. The plan also included new ICU and telemetry By Michael Ferguson Christopher La Mendola, MD, Chair of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Director of the St. Francis Hospital Open Heart Surgery Program at Good Samaritan Hospital COV ER FE AT UR E The New Look of Open-Heart Surgery at Good Samaritan Hospital 6 | Long Island MD NEWS ■ M D N E W S . CO M