WMC wants heart cath program to be permanent
By PAUL GIANNAMORE (Special to The Review)WEIRTON - With the stroke of a pen, Gov. Joe Manchin could change the shape of cardiac care in West Virginia.
Weirton Medical Center is hoping he does just that and is urging area residents to e-mail or call the governor to support his signature on a set of rules allowing angioplasties to be performed at hospitals that do not have full open-heart surgery units.
WMC has participated in a pilot program for five years, allowing it to perform angioplasties without being approved for full cardiac surgery. Under terms of the pilot program, Weirton must have a cardiac surgery team on standby at another hospital and must have a medical helicopter or other means available to get the patient to that team within an hour should something go wrong.
Out of nearly 900 procedures performed during the past five years, just one ended up having to go to a full cardiac hospital, according to Dr. Joseph Endrich, the hospital's chief executive officer. That patient, he noted, had elective - not emergency - surgery the following day.
"It's been very successful," Endrich said. "We've practiced this for five years, and we want to make it permanent. There are 43 other states that already allow for this. We do not want West Virginia to be last again."
Endrich noted the physicians and staff involved in the WMC program are people with training at Pittsburgh hospitals.
"It's a top-notch program, from start to finish. It's one of the things I'm most proud of in this hospital," he said.
The issue has prompted dueling advertisements around the state among hospitals on whether the pilot program should be made permanent and allowed to expand to other hospitals beyond the three that have conducted the pilot program - Weirton Medical Center, United Hospital in Clarksburg and St. Francis in Charleston.
The Weirton Area Chamber of Commerce has issued a statement in support of WMC's position and is requesting its members to contact Manchin.
The pilot program and its statistics have been reviewed, studied and commented upon, Endrich said. The West Virginia Health Care Authority has promulgated the standards for continuing the program and setting the rules for expansion to other community hospitals without complete cardiac surgery capabilities. Manchin has until Friday to sign the rules allowing the program to become permanent and expand.
The proposed heart catheterization standards submitted to Manchin include a requirement that hospitals that want to offer emergency catheterization must perform at least 36 a year, and to obtain permission for elective cardiac procedures, the hospital must perform at least 200 a year.
Endrich said of the nearly 900 procedures performed at Weirton, some 257 patients were experiencing an acute heart attack upon arrival at the hospital. He also noted that the overall complication rate has been 2.3 percent, compared with the national average of 5 percent.
The community hospitals contend the six cardiac approved hospitals in the state, largely concentrated in the state's largest urban areas, are trying to preserve market share instead of supporting a system that could save lives and reduce the impact of cardiovascular disease.
There are 74 hospitals across West Virginia, and Endrich noted just three of them invested in advertising portraying the angioplasty program as unsuccessful. The three are Wheeling Hospital, St. Joseph's Hospital and Charleston Area Medical Center, which are among the six cardiac hospitals in West Virginia.
He's spoken to both city Rotary clubs and said the community hospitals have another ad to run this week, on the heels of full-page advertisements that ran Sunday.
The hospital has received testimonials from patients thanking Weirton Medical Center for its quick action to save lives.
Endrich said the issue is one of regionalism for the Northern Panhandle.
"We serve Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio and the Northern Panhandle. We need to think regionally for our future success and take a regional approach in business and in health care," he said.
