Local Hospital Taking Part In New State Cardiac Program
1/3/2006

Keith Jennings
706.272.6118

Dalton, GA – Hamilton Medical Center has been selected as one of 10 Georgia hospitals to participate in a national program that will allow hospitals without an open-heart surgery program to perform angioplasty for its patients.

The Cardiovascular-Patient Outcomes Research Team (C-PORT), led by Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions cardiologist Dr. Thomas Aversano, is providing administrative overview and training for the selected Georgia hospitals.

According to Dalton Cardiologist, Dr. Bates Bailey, “While clot-dissolving drugs are good, acute angioplasty has been shown to be a superior treatment option.”

Angioplasty is a procedure that uses insertion of a special balloon to open blocked arteries in the heart.

Bailey said that Dr. Aversano has been instrumental in working with state health departments to set up model community primary angioplasty programs.

Hamilton, through State regulation, has historically been limited to only administering thrombolytic therapy to heart attack victims, which uses drugs to dissolve blood clots. A patient’s only other option is delaying treatment to travel out of state to a hospital that provides angioplasty, risking further damage to the heart muscle.

"The longer you wait to get to the hospital, the more serious your heart attack becomes," says Dr. Aversano. “It should not be a matter of chance or geography that determines what kind of care a heart attack patient receives.”

Hamilton President and CEO, John Bowling, reports that cardiac services are as far as 55 miles from remote sections of northwest Georgia. “This program will improve access to an important procedure for coronary heart disease.”

“Letting hospitals without cardiac surgery units perform angioplasties could more than double the number of heart attack patients who receive the procedure, potentially saving more lives,” says Aversano.

A heart attack, called myocardial infarction, occurs when an area of heart muscle dies or is permanently damaged because of an inadequate supply of oxygen to that area.

Angioplasty, which is not considered surgery, has been proven to be safely performed on heart attack victims at well-equipped hospitals without cardiac surgery departments.

“We are very excited to have been chosen to participate in this program,” said Bowling. “It is a testament to Hamilton’s clinical and facility capabilities.”

In addition to Hamilton Medical Center, Georgia hospitals selected to participate in the trial include Fairview Park Hospital in Dublin, John D. Archbold Memorial Hospital in Thomasville, Southeast Georgia Regional Hospital in Brunswick, Southern Regional Medical Center in Riverdale, Spalding Regional Medical Center in Griffin, Tanner Medical Center in Carrollton, Tift Regional Medical Center in Tifton and West Georgia Medical Center in LaGrange.

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