With a significant increase in patients needing cardiac catheterization

to diagnose heart problems, Fayette Community Hospital wants permission

to provide that service within the county's borders.

Currently, those patients are stabilized at the hospital before being

sent to downtown Atlanta to other hospitals. But FCH officials want to

provide that service here and have petitioned the state for permission

to build a cardiac catheterization lab on-site.

"So many folks currently are having to drive to Atlanta," said

Michael Burnett, vice president of clinical services for Fayette Community

Hospital. "... We stabilize them for transfer and ultimately it causes

a delay for the patients."

The Georgia Department of Community Health will ultimately determine

whether Fayette Community can offer a cardiac cath lab. The agency has

ruled previously that metro Atlanta has enough cardiac cath labs to handle

the area's needs. Fayette Community Hospital is considered part of

the metro Atlanta area by DCH for planning purposes.

Fayette Community officials hope to convince the state that it is an

inconvenience for patients to drive to Atlanta to undergo a procedure

that could be done here.

"We think it makes sense," Burnett said. Although several downtown

Atlanta hospitals have cardiac cath labs, they are often quite busy, he

added.

Hospital officials have projected the cost for such a lab to be $3.76

million.

Fayette Community isn't the only Southside hospital asking for a

cardiac cath lab. Newnan Hospital-West has also applied for a cardiac

cath lab, and the Department of Community Health has indicated it will

rule on both Fayette's and Newnan's request at the same time.

The cardiac catheterization procedure is a diagnostic test that involves

inserting a catheter into an artery that leads to the heart while injecting

a chemical marker into the bloodstream. The test allows doctors to look

for blockages in vessels feeding the heart as well as damage to the organ,

Burnett explained. Depending on the results, the doctor could determine

if other procedures are necessary, such as angioplasty or open heart surgery,

he added.

Sometimes, just a change in diet and the use of medication will help

correct cardiac problems, said hospital spokeswoman Ryan Duffy.

Fayette Community does not plan to offer any cardiac surgical interventions

here, Duffy said. Patients who need open heart surgery, angioplasty and

other surgeries would still need to go elsewhere for those procedures,

Burnett said.

In Fayette's application to the state, officials cited the growing

number of Fayette residents and others the hospital has had to send elsewhere

for a service the hospital could ultimately provide.

In the four-year period from 1998 to 2002, the number of patients in

the hospital's service area who underwent cardiac catheterization

procedures increased by 21 percent, according to hospital figures.

Patients at Fayette Community who underwent other non-invasive diagnostic

procedures grew from 8,637 in 2000 to more than 14,000 in 2003, officials

said.

Fayette Community is staffed by six full-time cardiologists who are affiliated

with Cardiac Disease Specialists at Piedmont Hospital.

Duffy also pointed out that the over-50 age group age group in the area

is also increasing dramatically, enhancing the need for the cardiac cath

lab.

Officials also point out that the hospital offers a variety of other

cardiac services including echocardiograms, stress testing and cardiac

rehabilitation on site.

Back

to News Home Page |