Memorial Health University Medical Center Breaks Ground On Heart And Vascular Institute

SAVANNAH, Ga., July 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Memorial Health was the first facility to offer advanced cardiovascular care in southeast Georgia. Continuing that pioneering tradition, Memorial Health today officially broke ground for a new $45 million, 189,000-square-foot facility that will house the Heart and Vascular Institute at Memorial Health University Medical Center.

“Our vision for the new Heart and Vascular Institute building is to create a state-of-the-art facility focused on patient care, continued clinical excellence, technology, and dedicated physicians,” stated Robert A. Colvin, president and CEO of Memorial Health.

During the ceremony, Memorial Health’s senior leadership honored the physicians who paved the way for heart and vascular care in the region three decades ago: Fenwick T. Nichols, Jr., M.D.; Thomas Yeh, M.D.; and C. Walker Beeson, M.D.

“Thirty-seven years ago when Dr. Yeh came to Memorial Health as Director of Surgical Education, open heart surgery wasn’t even performed in this area. These talented physicians built this program from the ground up,” said Colvin.

The Heart and Vascular Institute at Memorial Health University Medical Center already offers the most comprehensive and technologically advanced cardiac and vascular services in the region. Those services include state-of-the-art surgical suites, catheterization labs, an electrophysiology lab, and angiography procedure rooms. It is the only hospital in the region offering Enhanced External Counterpulsation (EECP) therapy for the treatment of severe angina pain. And, it’s the only facility performing Transmyocardial Revascularization (TMR) procedures to relieve chest pain. The new Heart and Vascular Institute building will also be home to the region’s first and only biplane angiography suite that will allow physicians to get a 3D image of the brain and actually see a stroke occurring.

The new building is scheduled for completion in November 2005.

Memorial Health is a two-state healthcare organization serving a 35-county area in southeast Georgia and southern South Carolina. The system includes its flagship Memorial Health University Medical Center, a 530-bed tertiary medical center; CareOne, its two-state home care division; Memorial Health University Physicians, the area’s largest group practice; a major medical education program; business and industry services; and NurseOne, a 24-hour call center. Memorial Health is the only healthcare system in the country to be named a Distinguished Hospital by J.D. Power and Associates and a “100 Best Companies to Work For” by Fortune Magazine. Visit the Memorial Health Web site at http://www.memorialhealth.com/ .

Memorial Health

CONTACT: Contact: Sally Silbermann of Memorial Health, +1-912-350-6863