Thomson Reuters study places medical facility in top 50 for the nation
Even though the Ellis Hospital’s Cardiovascular Department is confident in their work, being recognized as a leader in the specialized care is a welcomed accomplishment.
Thomson Reuters’ 12th annual cardiovascular hospital study nationwide resulted in Ellis Hospital being named one of the top 50 hospitals in the nation for the care provided. The study looked at outcomes for patients with heart failure and heart attacks and patients receiving coronary bypass surgery and precautionary coronary interventions such as angioplasties.
Ellis and other hospitals acknowledged for their success in the report, which noted patient survival rates were higher, with shorter hospital stays and included fewer complications and readmissions to the hospital compared to other hospitals in the nation. The study also noted if all similar high-volume cardiovascular hospitals performed at the same level as the noted top hospitals more than 7,500 additional lives could be saved, nearly 12,000 additional patients could be complication free and approximately $910 million could be saved every year.
We know we work very hard, we know we do a good job and the whole team deserves a pat on the back for this, said Herbert Reich, chief cardiothoracic surgeon at Ellis. `It is very nice to see that someone else knows what kind of a jobs we do. This is an award the whole team really shares and is a part of.`
Getting heart attack patients from the door of the Emergency Department to the Catheterization Lab where a balloon is inflated in the patient’s artery to restore blood flow happens 25 minutes faster on average than the national goal of 90 minutes, said Donna Evans, spokeswoman for Ellis.
`If you get that patient up to the Cath. Lab faster, you are going to improve the patients outcome,` said Evans.
Ellis is working with some emergency medical service partners to make the process even faster, by providing them with equipment to transmit the electrocardiography (EKG) readings right to a cardiologist’s cell phone. Before the patient arrives at the hospital the severity of the situation is already known to allow for proper precautions and preparations to be started.
`It is amazing technology, it truly is,` said Reich about EKG advancements. `It also saves a lot of problems.`
Susan Devito experienced care at the hospital first hand when she had a heart attack on Dec. 9 in 2009 and was brought to Ellis for treatment.
`The care was exceptional,` said Devito. `I have to say the whole team, the nurses were wonderful and everyone was just great. The cardiologists truly impressed me.`
Hearing the hospital was recognized wasn’t a surprise to Devito.
`It doesn’t surprise me that they were named one of the top 50 hospitals, it is wonderful,` said Devito. `I feel so comfortable that I have this hospital in my community that I know if anything happened to me or my family I am going to receive the best care in the future.`
She said she is the mother of three daughters, ages 18, 15, and 11, so she told doctors when she was brought in to the hospital that she had to `stay around` to raise them. Her oldest daughter also called the ambulance for her when she had her heart attack.
`Life is so precious that I could have lost my life that day, things are just more special now,` said Devito.
The hospital is able to provide this level of care, said Reich, because there is a team dedicated only to cardiovascular patients and there are surgeons that do nothing but cardiovascular surgery.
`Even if I am stuck in the operating room or away on a meeting the patients are still taken care of by the same team,` said Reich.
He credits the tightly knit team for the success and quality of care received by patients, because the staff can focus on the care.
`You do one thing every day you get really good at it,` said Reich. `Having the same group of people around, we get to know each other really well and we work together really well. It is the philosophy that we are not teaching a new person how to take care of our patients every day.“
