Contact:
Scott Orstad
Manager, Corporate Communications
(203) 276-5933
Stamford, CT- October 31, 2008 - Area patients no longer have to travel outside the community to receive non-emergent angioplasty after a diagnostic cardiac catheterization. Stamford Hospital now offers elective angioplasty, which involves the insertion of a catheter into a blocked artery in the heart. In this procedure, a small balloon on the end of the catheter is inflated, opening the artery and restoring blood flow to the heart.
Stamford Hospital has been successfully performing emergency angioplasty for over three years. The State Office of Health Care Access (OHCA) approved the hospital's request to perform elective angioplasty after it had completed 126 open heart surgeries. That milestone was reached in mid-October.
Stamford is the only hospital in lower Fairfield County that offers this full continuum of care to patients through its Heart & Vascular Institute, a collaboration with New York-Presbyterian Healthcare System/Columbia University Medical Center, to provide world-class care. Conveniently located in lower Fairfield County, the Heart & Vascular Institute provides the comprehensive cardiac care, from prevention and wellness through open-heart surgery and, afterward, cardiac rehabilitation.
Elective angioplasty is performed in the hospital's new state-of-the art cardiac catheterization labs, under the direction of Medical Director Dr. Ted Portnay.
"Stamford Hospital's pursuit to bring elective angioplasty services to the area and its investment in the cardiac catheterization labs displays the hospital's commitment to offer area residents a top-notch heart program close to home," said Dr. Portnay.
Stamford Hospital is among a select few hospitals nationally, and the only one in Connecticut, to have installed the Toshiba American Medical Systems Infinix CF-i/SP X-ray system in both its cardiac catheterization labs. This advanced technology system makes it possible to obtain images without repositioning patients.
To learn more about Stamford Hospital's Heart & Vascular Institute, log on to the hospital's website at www.stamfordhospital.org.
Stamford Hospital
Stamford Hospital is a not-for-profit provider of comprehensive healthcare services in lower Fairfield County and the region. The mission of Stamford Hospital is to provide, together with its physicians, a broad range of high quality health and wellness services focused on the needs of our communities. Stamford Hospital is a Magnet Hospital and a member of the Planetree Alliance, a group of hospitals nationwide focused on patient-centered care. Stamford Hospital is affiliated with New York Presbyterian Health System and is a major teaching affiliate of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.
