Monday, December 12, 2011

Hoag Hospital Unveils New Model For Cardiac Care

• Opens “Hybrid” Cardiovascular Operating Room (CVOR)
• Hoag Heart and Vascular Institute among select few to use Edwards Lifesciences new heart valve
• Surgical team includes one of two local specialists trained in using custom BMW robotic surgical system
• Named after Newport Beach couple who donated $2 million

Newport Beach, Calif. – Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian today announced the opening of one of the world’s most advanced cardiac operating suites.

The Bob and Marjie Bennett Hybrid Surgical Suite is named in honor of the Newport Beach couple whose $2 million donation provided the catalyst for the facility. The hybrid cardiovascular operating room includes a custom robot -- Siemen’s Artis Zeego robotic imaging system with 3D and 4D reconstruction software -- which is used to produce imaging in everything from open-heart surgeries to angioplasty and stenting.

The opening of this hybrid cardiovascular operating room is a milestone not only for Hoag, but for Orange County patient care,” said Richard M. Afable, M.D., Hoag’s president and chief executive officer. “By receiving diagnostic imaging and surgical procedures simultaneously in the same room from a comprehensive team of specialists, surgeons will benefit from much faster access to critical information. Cardiovascular patients will benefit from more efficient treatment and potentially shorter hospital stays, faster recoveries and improved outcomes.”

As further evidence of Hoag’s Heart and Valve Institute’s leading national role in cardiovascular care, the hospital recently became one of a select few in the United States to treat patients with the recently FDA-approved Edwards Lifesciences SAPIEN Transcatheter Aortic Heart Valve (TAVR). It provides a superior alternative for patients who were treated with medication or balloon aortic valvuloplasty.

Edwards only chose a handful of nationally renowned hospitals to offer this new therapy. Hoag is the only hospital in Orange County.

“There is a reason why Hoag Heart and Vascular Institute is at the top of our list to utilize the new TAVR value,” said Michael A. Mussallem, chairman and CEO of Edwards Lifesciences Corp. “This new hybrid operating room, combined with the finest team of cardiologists, cardiac surgeons, cardiac anesthesiologists, interventional cardiologists and state of the art technology creates a truly unique cardiac care unit unmatched in the region.”

Aidan Raney, M.D., F.A.C.C., medical director of cardiovascular surgery at HHVI and the Pamela & Jim Muzzy Endowed Chair, said the new hybrid operating room and SAPIEN Transcatheter Heart Value will “shape the future of cardiovascular care. Combining first-rate imaging capabilities with this operating room gives us unprecedented flexibility in real time to do what’s best for the patient,” added Raney, one of only a few hybrid cardiac surgeons in the world trained as both a cardiovascular surgeon and an interventionist who can combine highly advanced, minimally invasive procedures with open surgical procedures. “It also gives us a tremendous opportunity to adapt things we know today into the minimally invasive procedures of tomorrow.”

The operating room’s benefactors said they were pleased to have a role in bringing one of the nation’s best cardiac care facilities to Newport Beach’s premier hospital.

“Hoag Hospital is one of the nation’s finest medical centers, and Marjie and I are honored to have had the opportunity to help bring this important hybrid operating room to Orange County,” said Bob Bennett, a nationally renowned broadcaster and philanthropist who founded what is now Fox Television. “From its physicians to its nurses to its administrators, Hoag combines leading health care with genuine compassion for everyone it treats, and it will be thrilling to watch how they use this advanced operating room to enhance the hospital’s mission and reputation, and most important, the patient care it provides.”

“We are very excited about the potential of the new surgical suite to revolutionize the way we treat patients by integrating traditional cardiac surgery with endovascular surgery techniques and technology,” added Raney. “This truly bridges the best of what we do today with the latest advances in our quickly evolving field.”

About Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian

Hoag is a non-profit regional healthcare delivery network in Orange County, California that treats nearly 30,000 inpatients and 350,000 outpatients annually. Hoag consists of two acute-care hospitals, seven health centers and five urgent care centers. Hoag Hospital Newport Beach, which has served Orange County since 1952, and Hoag Hospital Irvine, which opened in 2010, are designated Magnet hospitals by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). Hoag offers a comprehensive blend of health care services that include five institutes providing specialized services in the following areas: cancer, heart and vascular, neurosciences, women’s health and orthopedics through Hoag’s affiliate Hoag Orthopedic Institute. Hoag has been named one of the Best Regional Hospitals in the U.S. News & World Report Metro Edition. National Research Corporation has endorsed Hoard as Orange County’s most preferred hospital for the past 15 consecutive years ad for an unprecedented 15 years, residents of Orange County have chosen Hoag as the county’s best hospital in a local newspaper survey.