October 30, 2006

Regions begins Level I Cardiac program
ST. PAUL, Minn. (Oct. 30, 2006) - Long known as the leading trauma and emergency care center in the east metro and western Wisconsin, Regions Hospital is extending that expertise to a program developed specifically for treating patients suffering a heart attack. The new Level I Cardiac program gives patients direct access to the hospital's cardiac catheterization lab, where physicians can quickly perform an angioplasty to open an obstruction or narrowing in the arteries of the heart.

The key to the program is a network of area community hospitals and emergency transport services that work in concert with Regions Heart Center staff to quickly diagnose transport and treat patients having a heart attack. The goal is to open blocked arteries in the catheterization lab at Regions in less than 90 minutes from when a patient is first admitted to an area hospital or transported by local emergency medical services. According to studies, programs such as Regions' Level I Cardiac can significantly reduce rates of death, recurrent heart attack, or disabling heart attack related complications.

"When a person is having a heart attack, every minute counts," said Dr. Shailesh Shetty, director of interventional cardiology at Regions. "Heart attacks kill almost a half million people each year in the United States. Research shows that the risk of death and major heart attack related complications can be significantly reduced if the patient is promptly transferred to a hospital that performs high volume angioplasty. Many community hospitals do not have the equipment or resources to perform this life-saving procedure. They may not offer 24-hour acute cardiac care services."

The Level I Cardiac program begins when emergency department staff at Regions or a community partner hospital diagnose a heart attack. A call from the local community hospital to Regions activates a team that prepares for the patient in the cardiac catheterization lab. The patient is prepared for transport and necessary medical information is sent to Regions. Meanwhile, emergency medical personnel are dispatched to quickly transport the patient via ambulance or helicopter to Regions. There they are met by a highly specialized cardiology team and brought immediately to the catheterization lab, bypassing the emergency department. The program also can be activated by local EMS, at the patients home or in route to Regions.

Regions Hospital is a Level I Trauma Center and teaching hospital serving Minnesota and western Wisconsin for more than 130 years. Regions is a private, non-profit hospital providing outstanding care in women's health, heart, cancer, surgery, orthopaedics, neuroscience, burn, emergency care and more. Regions is part of the HealthPartners family of care. Additional information is available at regionshospital.com.