Columbia Cardiology Opens at PSI
The following article was published in the Daily News on July 8, 2009.
“Another hearty boost for local cardiac care”
by Cheryll Borgaard
The recent opening of a new cardiology clinic in Longview is saving Dolores Brant a drive to Portland for her six-week angioplasty follow-up.
Brant, 74, who underwent the artery-opening procedure May 22 at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, visited cardiologist William Simkoff last week at the newly opened Providence Heart and Vascular Institute on Ninth Avenue.
“This is a blessing,” the Kelso woman said. “This saved me that horrible trip to Portland.”
Providence’s new Longview satellite office, coupled with St John Medical Center’s plans to add three cardiologists, represents a big uptick - and sharp increase in competition - in local heart care.
Providence, which is offering consultations and diagnostic services at the Longview office, acted in response to a patient poll and market survey, Simkoff said.
“This is not something we did on a lark,” Simkoff said, adding that about 700 Longview-Kelso patients currently are under care at Providence St. Vincent. “This area is woefully under-supplied for cardiac care, according to demographics.”
In 2008, about 400 patients from the Longview-Kelso area were hospitalized for cardiac care at St. Vincent, said Diane Reiner, manager of quality and program development at Providence Heart and Vascular Institute in Portland . “And many more than that came to us for consultations and other services,” she said.
Services provided at the local Providence clinic include echocardiograms to view the heart’s structure and function, stress testing to measure blood flow to the heart, heart-rhythm monitoring, Pacemaker checks and screenings to detect vascular diseases. All of these are offered at St. John Medical Center.
Trying to attract local patients to their system, Providence/St. Vincent officials say what sets their Portland hospital apart is that cardiac procedures are performed around the clock, affording its physicians experience and expertise.
“What we have going for St. Vincent is we’re a center that does this on a regular basis,” Reiner said. “We do hundreds of these procedures, unlike some academic centers that are also doing teaching.”
Reiner said St. Vincent cardiologists in 2008 performed at the Portland hospital 1,000 open-heart surgeries and 1,300 stent/angioplasties, the procedure involved in inserting a balloon into a blocked artery using a catheter.
“What people fail to realize is that in order to do emergency stenting, you have to have an extremely busy and robust elective program,” Simkoff said. “We are literally doing bypass and coronary stenting around the clock. That’s the kind of volume you need to do this well.”
Currently, St. John’s cardiac unit is unable to perform open-heart surgeries or angioplasties and has been sending its emergency and acute cardiac patients to Oregon Health & Science University. Hospital officials said they are hoping to get permission from the state later this year to perform elective cardiac surgery, adding that the opening of Providence’s Longview clinic shouldn’t affect the state decision.
“I don’t anticipate that (Providence’s clinic) will have any impact on our applications,” said Sarah Cave, regional vice president of strategy, innovation and development for PeaceHealth, which runs St. John Medical Center. “It is a concern in terms of this is a competitor coming into our market. But we’re on the cusp of a whole lot of incredible things coming together to provide patients with an increase to access and a broader spectrum for specialists within cardiology.”
St. John spokesman Randy Querin said once the state Department of Health approves the hospital’s application for elective cardiac surgery, “it will be unusual for us to send patients to OHSU.”
Patients needing open heart surgery will still need to go elsewhere, Querin said, because St. John doesn’t have the volume of open heart cases to support that type of procedure locally.
“But almost all other procedures can and will be handled in Cowlitz County,” he said.
While both Providence and PeaceHealth are now clamoring for the cardiology market, officials agree that patient health and treatment is the bottom line.
“Heart disease is the second-highest cause of death here in Cowlitz County. Our rate is 20 percent higher than the state,” Cave said. “In terms of intervention cardiology procedures, for folks in our service area, there is a very high need.”
“Given our longstanding relationship, we are open to any relationship with the cardiology community here,” said St. Vincent’s Simkoff. “It’s about the patient, it’s not about the doctors. We’re all here for the same purpose - to serve the population to give the best cardiac care. If everyone does their job, all boats will rise.”