Presbyterian Healthcare 
2000 News Releases
Presbyterian Healthcare Announces Plans for Cardiovascular Institute
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December 6, 2000 Contact: Kevin M. McCarthy, Presbyterian Healthcare, 704-384-9669 |
Presbyterian Healthcare plans to open a cardiovascular institute to enhance its existing cardiovascular services. The institute will incorporate the nationally recognized Belk Heart Center and begin seeing patients in the first quarter of 2001. A multidisciplinary team of physician specialists will develop the institute. Leading-edge research, community health and wellness education, patient education, support programs and rehabilitation services will be combined to treat complex cardiovascular disease.
"The cardiovascular institute is just another step to fulfilling our mission of improving the health of our community," said Edward B. Case, chief executive officer for Presbyterian Healthcare. "We are committed to serving the whole health of a person, which means our focus must be more than just diagnosis and treatment," added Case.
The team of physicians on the development panel will include cardiologists, cardiothoracic surgeons, vascular surgeons, interventional radiologists and primary care physicians. By putting these specialties together, patients will benefit from a comprehensive approach. Services that will be considered will be a hypertension clinic, stress management clinic, nutrition and fitness services, as well as many other prevention and treatment programs. This multidisciplinary approach has been very successful at the Presbyterian Cancer Center with the Multidisciplinary Breast Cancer Clinic where patients who have been diagnosed with breast cancer get a second opinion and recommendations from a surgeon, medical oncologist, radiation oncologist, pathologist, mammographer, clinical research nurse, nutritionist and a breast cancer survivor.
Dr. Charles H. Edwards II, president of Hawthorne Cardiovascular Surgeons, said "We are proud of the care of the cardiovascular patient at Presbyterian Hospital and specifically, of our surgical results in the Belk Heart Center since 1986. The cardiovascular institute, however, will allow us to centralize the treatment of cardiovascular patients and also broaden our treatment emphasis. Patients with not only cardiac disease, but stroke and peripheral vascular disease, will be treated in the institute. Emphasis will be placed on prevention, rehabilitation, as well as the more classic acute interventions. This is a marvelous opportunity for us at Presbyterian Hospital to reinvent the interface with cardiovascular patients and to reach out to the community with preventive programs which hopefully will decrease the number of acute interventions required."
A potential patient who could benefit from the institute might be a middle-aged businessman who smokes and is overweight. Because of these risk factors, his primary care physician may refer the patient to the cardiovascular institute for a heart disease prevention program. His participation in patient education or a support program may help him prevent a heart attack.
"Cardiovascular disease can be avoided," said William Coley, president of Duke Power Company. "Our senior leadership team has demanding positions that put them at risk for health problems. To help manage that risk, we went through a customized health risk assessment and an ongoing program to prevent heart disease," he added.
Some benefits for the Duke Power management team have been lower cholesterol and blood pressure levels, improved exercise and diet, and weight loss. "I'm glad that Presbyterian is working to provide the benefits of this program to the entire community," Coley said.
Dr. Tony Bell, interventional neuroradiologist with Mecklenburg Radiology Associates, said, "By combining the specialties of cardiology, surgery, radiology and primary care, the patient will receive the absolute best treatment option for their specific situation. This multidisciplinary intervention will produce even better outcomes and new treatment modalities."
"The cardiovascular institute will give physicians the resources they need to treat the whole patient," said Case. "We've looked at other cardiac, cardiovascular and thoracic programs in the country to see what models were most successful. What we found was that most programs did not offer comprehensive programs to treat heart disease. This approach will be far more beneficial to our community, without requiring facility expansion or a certificate of need," added Case.
"The cardiovascular institute is just another step to fulfilling our mission of improving the health of our community," said Edward B. Case, chief executive officer for Presbyterian Healthcare. "We are committed to serving the whole health of a person, which means our focus must be more than just diagnosis and treatment," added Case.
The team of physicians on the development panel will include cardiologists, cardiothoracic surgeons, vascular surgeons, interventional radiologists and primary care physicians. By putting these specialties together, patients will benefit from a comprehensive approach. Services that will be considered will be a hypertension clinic, stress management clinic, nutrition and fitness services, as well as many other prevention and treatment programs. This multidisciplinary approach has been very successful at the Presbyterian Cancer Center with the Multidisciplinary Breast Cancer Clinic where patients who have been diagnosed with breast cancer get a second opinion and recommendations from a surgeon, medical oncologist, radiation oncologist, pathologist, mammographer, clinical research nurse, nutritionist and a breast cancer survivor.
Dr. Charles H. Edwards II, president of Hawthorne Cardiovascular Surgeons, said "We are proud of the care of the cardiovascular patient at Presbyterian Hospital and specifically, of our surgical results in the Belk Heart Center since 1986. The cardiovascular institute, however, will allow us to centralize the treatment of cardiovascular patients and also broaden our treatment emphasis. Patients with not only cardiac disease, but stroke and peripheral vascular disease, will be treated in the institute. Emphasis will be placed on prevention, rehabilitation, as well as the more classic acute interventions. This is a marvelous opportunity for us at Presbyterian Hospital to reinvent the interface with cardiovascular patients and to reach out to the community with preventive programs which hopefully will decrease the number of acute interventions required."
A potential patient who could benefit from the institute might be a middle-aged businessman who smokes and is overweight. Because of these risk factors, his primary care physician may refer the patient to the cardiovascular institute for a heart disease prevention program. His participation in patient education or a support program may help him prevent a heart attack.
"Cardiovascular disease can be avoided," said William Coley, president of Duke Power Company. "Our senior leadership team has demanding positions that put them at risk for health problems. To help manage that risk, we went through a customized health risk assessment and an ongoing program to prevent heart disease," he added.
Some benefits for the Duke Power management team have been lower cholesterol and blood pressure levels, improved exercise and diet, and weight loss. "I'm glad that Presbyterian is working to provide the benefits of this program to the entire community," Coley said.
Dr. Tony Bell, interventional neuroradiologist with Mecklenburg Radiology Associates, said, "By combining the specialties of cardiology, surgery, radiology and primary care, the patient will receive the absolute best treatment option for their specific situation. This multidisciplinary intervention will produce even better outcomes and new treatment modalities."
"The cardiovascular institute will give physicians the resources they need to treat the whole patient," said Case. "We've looked at other cardiac, cardiovascular and thoracic programs in the country to see what models were most successful. What we found was that most programs did not offer comprehensive programs to treat heart disease. This approach will be far more beneficial to our community, without requiring facility expansion or a certificate of need," added Case.
