Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/96739
COVER FEATURE A Local Answer for Cardiac Valve Disease at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center THE ROCKLAND COUNTY COMMUNITY HEALTH ASSESSMENT OF 2010-2013 REVEALS THE COUNTY BOASTS A LOWER HOSPITALIZATION RATE FOR CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE, YET HAS A HIGHER MORTALITY RATE FROM CORONARY HEART DISEASE, THAN OTHER NEW YORK COUNTIES. catheterization, electrophysiology services, transesophageal echocardiogram, stress testing and cardiac surgery to comprehensively serve patients with cardiovascular disease here in the lower Hudson Valley region. Within the last year, Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center extended the reach of its cardiovascular care by formalizing the Center for Valve Surgery, a program under AICI���s umbrella, to treat valve disease. The idea for the Center for Valve Surgery germinated in Good Samaritan Rawn Salenger, M.D., rounds with nurses Maureen Brady and Ron Renshtie in the intensive care unit. The postoperative patient is on day one after his aortic valve replacement and coronary artery bypass grafting. Regional Medical Center���s monthly echocardiography conferences. Dr. Salenger began to put the pieces together for a multidisciplinary team focused on valve care and composed of providers with high levels of expertise in their cardiovascular discipline. ���We observed that as our cardiothoracic program at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center grew, we were seeing progressively sicker patients who had more and more advanced cardiac disease,��� says Dr. Salenger. ���We realized the care of cardiac valve patients didn���t reside in the realm of one medical discipline, but required a multidisciplinary approach to produce the best possible outcomes.��� The heart valve team is comprised of cardiologists possessing a breadth of subspecialty expertise. Participants include: + noninvasive cardiologists with expertise in echocardiography, magnetic resonance angiography, and computed tomography angiography; + invasive cardiologists who provide cardiac catheterization and other catheterization lab interventions; + cardiac anesthesiologists; + cardiac surgeons; and + pulmonary critical care intensivists who provide expertise in lung function and critical care. 6 | Mid Hudson MD NEWS I MDNEWS.COM PHOTOS �� DON DEMPSEY, WHITE LIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY TO ANSWER THE NEED for local cardiovascular care, Good Samaritan Reg iona l Med ic a l Center developed a nationally recognized cardiovascular surgical center under the leadership of Edward F. Lundy, M.D., Ph.D., Chief of Cardiac Surgery, and Rawn Salenger, M.D., Director of the Center for Valve Surgery. Established in 2007, the Active International Cardiovascular Institute (AICI) at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center offers cardiac