DGMC cardiovascular operating room celebrates anniversary

  • Published
  • By James Spellman Jr.
  • 60th Medical Group Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  History was made at Travis Oct. 8, 2010 when the cardiac surgical team successfully completed their first open heart case at David Grant USAF Medical Center.

The medical procedure ushered in the use of a state-of-the-art, robotically-assisted, hybrid cardiovascular operating room. The use of the CVOR also marked the first Air Force heart case conducted by a "blue-suit" team when heart surgery programs at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss. closed September 2005 and Wilford Hall Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas consolidated with Brooke Army Medical Center in December 2006 to form the San Antonio Military Medical Center.

The CVOR offers the most advanced and efficient method for complex cardiac and vascular surgical procedures at DGMC as part of a new joint Department of Defense / Department of Veterans Affairs Heart, Lung and Vascular Center. As one of the most unique medical facilities of its type in Northern California, the joint HL&VC demonstrates the latest cutting-edge medical technology now available for treating patients with pinpoint precision, accuracy, safety, care and compassion.

Fast forward one year and the cardiovascular programs at DGMC are booming as expectations have exceeded initial goals.

Based on end-of-year numbers for DGMC's joint HL&VC, 52 cardiac surgery cases involving 39 DOD and 13 VA patients beat the initial goal of 50 originally set for its first year of operation. Cardiology performed more than 600 cardiac catheterization procedures including 130 cardiac interventional cases on 97 DOD and 33 VA patients.

Vascular surgery performed 222 open vascular surgery cases involving 109 DOD and 113 VA patients in the same timeframe, exceeding their third year goal of 175 cases.
Overall, the HL&VC had more than 16,000 patient encounters for fiscal year 2011, a 91 percent increase since the start of the program.

"Patient safety and quality of care remain the highest priority here," said Col. (Dr.) Jerry Pratt, 60th Surgical Operations Squadron chief of heart, lung and vascular programs at DGMC. "Our joint HL&VC programs with the use of our CVOR, state-of-the-art cardiac catheterization laboratories and a newly renovated cardiovascular intensive care unit are exceeding state and national levels for cardiac care in similar size programs."

According to Pratt, DGMC's heart, lung and vascular program has goals to double the previous years' workload in the next fiscal year and is clearly on its way to achieving these goals.

"We are actively seeking patients with heart, lung and vascular disease to include those covered by TRICARE Prime, Standard, Plus and TRICARE for Life," Pratt explained.

The HL&VC program continues to expand with such features as cardiology and vascular satellite clinics at the former McClellan Air Force Base in Sacramento. This service offers local cardiology and vascular clinic appointments that improve the convenience and satisfaction of patients residing in the metropolitan Sacramento area and throughout the northern California region.

Furthermore, the Air Force Medical Service approved DGMC as an expansion site for cardiac electrophysiology services, which is expected to be operational by the summer of 2012.

"The expansion will include a cardiac electro-physiologist, an EP-trained nurse practitioner and technician, and the upgrade of one of our existing cardiac catheterization laboratories with equipment specialized in the diagnosis and treatment of arrhythmia disorders," said Maj. (Dr.) Benjamin Romick, 60th MSGS interventional cardiologist and chief of cardiology in the HL&VC. "This will greatly improve the capabilities of DGMC's cardiac program by offering procedures such as ablations and electrophysiology studies for treatment and diagnosis of arrhythmias."

Currently, these procedures are not available at DGMC and require a physicians' referral to a network provider. "Once our EP program is in place, DGMC will be the only Air Force medical treatment facility in the nation with a fully operational EP program," Romick said.

All initial appointments for the HL&VC are booked through DGMC's Consult Management office at (707) 423-7641. For urgent referrals requiring a visit within 72 hours, referring physicians should contact the on-call cardiologist via the DGMC Acute Call Center at (707) 423-7790.

For more information, visit DGMC's specialty care video detailing the hybrid CVOR and the heart, lung and vascular center via YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVDveAiErWE or call (707) 423-2300.