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Home > News
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| Wednesday, January 27, 2010
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3:37 AM
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Contact: Debra Thompson
Director, RMH Corporate Communications
540-564-5886
For the fourth consecutive year, Rockingham Memorial Hospital has been ranked number one in Virginia, and among the top 10 percent of all hospitals nationally, for coronary interventional procedures by HealthGrades, the nation’s leading independent healthcare ratings company.
Coronary intervention, also referred to as percutaneous coronary intervention, or PCI, is performed to open blocked arteries to the heart. RMH opened its first cardiac catheterization lab in 1989 to perform diagnostic procedures. Physicians could determine whether arteries were blocked, but had to send patients to other facilities outside the local community for treatment of the blockages.
In January 2003, with the addition of an interventional cardiologist to the staff, RMH began performing coronary interventional procedures, or PCI. PCI involves the insertion of a balloon catheter to open a blocked artery and often the placement of stents, small metal mesh “cages,” to hold the artery open.
To date, RMH has performed more than 2,500 coronary intervention procedures and achieved superior clinical outcomes, according to Dave Grembi, director, RMH Heart & Vascular Center. He added that the HealthGrades ratings are based on these clinical outcomes. This recognition is even more impressive in light of the growth of the intervention program over the last six years.
“The PCI program at RMH has grown significantly since its inception,” said Stewart Pollock, MD, medical director, Cardiology. “This growth has resulted in the addition of two more interventional cardiologists to our team and achievement of our goal of providing this life-saving service to our community 24-7.”
RMH has two other interventional cardiologists: David McLaughlin, MD, and Nadim Geloo, MD.
“The Virginia Department of Health acknowledged the growth in our region, and the related need for additional cardiac capacity, as evidenced by their approval to add a third cardiac catheterization lab to the Heart & Vascular Center in the new hospital,” Grembi added. The new RMH facility is slated to open June 22, 2010 at the corner of Port Republic Road and Reservoir Street.
In addition to receiving HealthGrades’ highest possible star ratings for coronary interventional procedures for 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010, RMH also was recognized for the following multi-year clinical achievements in cardiac services:
- Five-star rating for treatment of heart failure (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
- Five-star rating for Cardiology Services (2008, 2009, 2010)
- Recipient of the HealthGrades Coronary Intervention Excellence Award™ (2008, 2009, 2010)
“Our entire coronary intervention team is elated that we’ve received the top state ranking for a fourth year running,” Grembi said. “This is a testament to the commitment of our interventional cardiologists, our nurses, our techs, and our administrators to sustaining a high-quality program for our patients and our community.”
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