Lisa Elles-Borrson, ANP-BC, nurse practitioner, and Charles F. Carey, MD, FACC, medical director of the HEART Unit, focus on rapid heart evaluations in St. Anthony's new outpatient HEART Unit.
Fast Tracked Heart Care
St. Anthony's Heart Evaluation And Rapid Treatment Unit
Heart & Vascular Center
- John K. Pruellage
Healing Garden
Virtual Tour
Each year, emergency rooms see an estimated six million people who come in with chest pain. At St. Anthony's, a seamless fast track system immediately identifies patients undergoing an active heart emergency. For patients with blocked arteries, St. Anthony's team of cardiac specialists moves fast. Where the national standard to clear a blockage is 90 minutes or less, St. Anthony's team, available 24/7, has cleared them in as little as 12 minutes.
HEART Unit
If a patient is not having an active heart attack or other acute problem, St. Anthony's now has the Heart Evaluation and Rapid Treatment Unit, or HEART Unit. The unit is a specialized outpatient unit designed for patients deemed low risk, but still needing further evaluation before going home.
“We offer a less hectic, more comfortable, and specialized environment for patients to be further evaluated for heart problems,” says unit director Charles Carey, MD. Board-certified cardiologists and nurse practitioners staff the unit.
Fast Track
In keeping with the fast track process, there is no “waiting room” — patients are immediately moved into a private room for additional laboratory tests and continuous EKG monitoring.“ Depending upon a patient's condition, we also can arrange for a heart stress test that day,” says Dr. Carey. “Some of our patients could be headed home in as little as four hours, versus a traditional overnight stay in the hospital."
The American Heart Association endorses the use of rapid treatment outpatient units, stating the “approach has been found to be safe, accurate, and cost-effective in low-risk patients presenting with chest pain.” The HEART Unit also will care for patients with congestive heart failure or atrial fibrillation, who would benefit from a more intensive outpatient environment than could be found in a doctor's office.
For information, please call our Health Access Line at 314-ANTHONY (268-4669) or 800-554-9550 or visit find a physician online.
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