Care New England’s Kent Hospital successfully completed its first elective coronary angioplasty last week after receiving state approval earlier this year to move forward with both an elective and emergency angioplasty program.
Coronary angioplasty, also referred to as PCI (percutaneous coronary intervention) is a procedure that opens a blocked coronary artery by inflating a balloon and stent in the diseased artery. It is often used for patients suffering from a sudden heart attack. Angioplasty is also effective in relieving symptoms among more stable patients who experience chest discomfort or angina due to coronary artery disease. With the addition of Kent Hospital, there are now four hospitals in the state (two in Providence and one in Woonsocket) offering the procedure.
“The cardiology program across Care New England, and here at Kent, has grown tremendously over the past several years to provide access to and treatment for general and complex cardiovascular care. The successful launch of our elective angioplasty program represents another critical step in providing the community and patients with the best possible care close to home,” said Dr. Hedgepeth, MD, PhD., chief of cardiology at Kent and the leader of the Brigham and Women’s Cardiovascular Associates at Care New England, executive chief of cardiology at CNE.
“Kent Hospital and Care New England have done an excellent job building a strong clinical program helping to meet the needs of Rhode Islanders locally,” said David O. Williams, MD, senior physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Care New England director of invasive cardiac services. “Building off of this success and the further development and training of clinical staff, Kent Hospital is now able to provide a critical, life-saving, procedure that is ‘standard of care’ and that will better serve the community and enhance the care provided here.”
The successful procedure was performed by interventional cardiologists, Ed Thomas, MD, and Ashish Shah, M.D., along with a team of highly trained nurses, technicians and other clinical support staff, who have been participating in additional and intensive training both locally at Kent and at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, a clinical affiliate with Care New England.
A 24-hour, emergency angioplasty service will follow early in 2016 after the completion of construction on a second cardiac catheterization lab. The catheterization lab expansion will essentially double patient capacity and will allow for the cardiac nursing and technical team to be expanded. Elective PCI when done in a high-volume setting builds a strong base for readiness and quick response to emergency PCI patients.
“Let me just say how proud I am of Kent Hospital, Drs. Thomas and Shah and the entire clinical team who performed our first angioplasty. This truly is an important day for this hospital but even more so for those who live in the vicinity of Kent and points south,” said Michael Dacey, Jr., MD, Kent Hospital president and COO. “This standard-of-care procedure will result in lives saved because of decreased travel time to access this critical treatment.”
Data presented to the state Department of Health during the approval process demonstrated that patients residing south of the metro Providence area (more than 300,000 Rhode Islanders) would benefit greatly from expanded access to coronary angioplasty via the new program at Kent Hospital. This is because the longer it takes to open a blocked artery in someone having a heart attack, the greater the risks of poor outcomes, including death and disability. The medical evidence is clear that minutes matter and there are many patients residing in both Kent and Washington Counties who will see their risks of dying reduced by almost 10 percent as a result of the new program at Kent due to decreased transport and transfer times. Also, because more heart muscle will be saved by earlier intervention, the risk of developing congestive heart failure and disability will likewise be reduced substantially.
Despite advances in prevention, heart disease remains the single largest cause of death in the United States and Rhode Island. Nationally, heart disease results in almost 600,000 deaths each year.
With the addition of the angioplasty program, Care New England Cardiovascular Care provides clinical expertise and treatment from basic cardiac health to all but the most complex. With access to cardiologists across the state, patients are presented with options on where to receive the most convenient care including Kent Hospital, Memorial Hospital the new Women’s Heart Health of Women & Infants located downtown Providence, and offices located in Garden City. The cardiovascular service offers a full range of testing and evaluative services as well as advanced services such as cardiac arrhythmia, advanced valvular heart disease and heart failure clinic. For more information please visit
carenewengland.org/cardiology.
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About Kent Hospital
Kent Hospital, a Care New England Hospital, is a 359-bed, acute care hospital. It is Rhode Island’s second largest hospital, serving approximately 300,000 residents of central Rhode Island. In January 2013, Kent Hospital introduced the Brigham and Women’s Cardiovascular Associates at Kent, a clinical affiliation between Kent and Brigham and Women’s Hospital of Boston, which brings expert cardiac care and services in a convenient local setting, including cardiac catheterization; arrhythmia services; advanced heart failure clinic; advanced valvular heart disease clinic; as well as testing, evaluation, pacemaker and defibrillator devices.
Kent Hospital opened its state-of-the-art Ambulatory Surgery Center in the summer of 2013, equipped with eight surgical suites, 28 pre- and post-operative bays, meeting the most critical standards of comfort and care. To date, more than 6,000 procedures have been performed.
About Care New England
Care New England, located in Rhode Island, was founded in 1996 by Butler Hospital, Kent Hospital and Women & Infants Hospital. Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island joined the system as a hospital partner in 2013. Care New England is an integrated health care system that offers a continuum of quality care. The system includes primary care and specialty physicians; three teaching hospitals affiliated with The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Butler, Memorial and Women & Infants; a community hospital, Kent; a visiting nurse and home care agency, the VNA of Care New England; and Care New England Wellness Center. For more information, visit carenewengland.org.
