Georgians with complex cardiovascular issues now have more options for treatment in Atlanta.
Emory University Hospital is expanding its heart and vascular facilities with more critical care beds and new space for surgeries and specialized services.
The new, roughly $88 million expansion includes a new 16-bed cardiovascular ICU unit and new cardiovascular operating rooms with robotic capabilities. It also allows for real-time secure video streaming between surgeons, other specialists and medical students.
Dr. Angel Leon, executive director of Emory Heart and Vascular, said the new facilities are designed to make patient care more efficient by combining services into shared areas.
“If we’re in one of the procedure areas and something requires emergency surgery, we don’t need to move the patient. The team’s already there. There are supplies in in a central support area and, so we can get to the patient quicker, more efficiently,” said Leon.
“And that really gives us, not only the ability to do things more cost effectively, but ultimately safer for the patient.”
Emory typically performs around 2,000 heart surgeries, as well as thousands of other heart procedures a year.
With the expansion, the hospital plans to eventually offer elective procedures seven days per week. It currently schedules planned elective procedures five days per week.
To support the additional service, hospital officials said they are actively recruiting dozens more nurses, technicians and other staff members.
Leon said there is a need for more heart and vascular care in Georgia, especially as the state has seen more than a dozen hospital closures over the last decade, including the shutdown of Wellstar Atlanta Medical Center in Atlanta.
“We’re not too far from Atlanta Medical Center and we’ve seen an increased number of emergency room visits,” he said. “Our hospital has been more full than usual.”
Cardiovascular disease is responsible for around 1 in 3 deaths in Georgia, which is slightly above the national rate and the leading cause of death in the state.
According to a recent report from Augusta University — Healthy Georgia: Our State of Public Health — conditions including heart disease, stroke, congestive heart failure and hypertension are on the rise in Georgia.
The Georgia Department of Public Health reports most deaths linked to cardiovascular disease in the state are preventable.
Risk factors include high blood pressure, smoking and high blood cholesterol; almost half of Americans live with at least one of the three, according to the CDC.
Read more about the Emory expansion here.
